Choose Who You Will Follow
Choose who you will follow!
“Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.”
—Ps. 143:8
Can you imagine how David must have felt, knowing that he was God’s anointed to be king over Israel; and yet, here he was being pursued by King Saul who wanted to put him to death. So often, David prayed to God asking for direction, asking to be led. Henri Nouwen writes in his book on spiritual leadership2 that leaders need to change from wanting to lead to wanting to be led. This was David’s heart but it sometimes led to his hiding in caves or running for his life. Is this how God leads the ones He loves?
Our pastor once spoke on a Sunday morning that God was a “leading kind of God.” And so, David prays, “Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me (Ps. 5:8).” In probably his most famous Psalm, David wrote, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake (Ps. 23:1-2-3).” David not only trusted and relied upon God’s leading but also believed it was what was best for him.
Isaiah relates the LORD’s words to the people of Israel, “I am the LORD your God, who leads you in the way you should go (Is. 48:17).” David writes in Ps. 37 that we need to entrust our way unto God if we want Him to give us the desires of our hearts.
Numerous times in the New Testament (Matt. 4:19; 10:48), we see where Jesus issued an invitation, “Follow me.” He spoke of Himself as the shepherd and how His sheep would follow Him because they knew His voice. He also spoke of the Holy Spirit whose role would be to “guide into all truth (John 16:13).”
God wants to lead and He wants us to follow. That makes sense given we know God’s ways are higher than ours and His thoughts greater than ours as well. But, we aren’t always willing to acknowledge His leading in our lives and we don’t always choose to follow. As Isaiah wrote, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way (Is. 53:6).”
His call is still, “Follow me.” I think most of us would readily admit we want to but there are things that get in the way. Jimmy Collins, former President of Chick-fil-A, wrote a book entitled Creative Followership3, in which he describes the importance of choosing your own leader. While most of us don’t feel we have that luxury in our work setting, when it comes to who we will follow in life it is a necessity.
Joshua, at the end of his tenure as leader of the nation of Israel, said these words, “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD (Josh. 24:15).” He could just as easily have said, “Choose this day who you will follow…but I choose to follow the LORD!”
“This is what the LORD says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look, ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”—Jer. 6:16
The above was an indictment by God of the people of Israel because they had turned their backs on Him. Consider the times you have turned onto a wrong path in your own life. What were the consequences for you? When you returned to the right path, what did you experience?
Perhaps you are on a path right now that is taking you further away from God. Like the father in the story of the prodigal son, God is waiting for your return and He will welcome you without condemning you or holding it over your head. He will forgive and forget your trespasses and continue to lead you in the right way.
Perhaps you are looking for the path God wants you to walk. Pause and ask Him to show you the steps you need to take at this time. As you continue on this journey, ask Him to make this clear and to give you what you need in order to be obedient to His will and purpose for you.
