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“… Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19

As I sat down to have my devotions this morning, this was the first verse that came to my mind. Many of you know that I love word studies and word definitions. So, to begin, I went to the Merriam-Webster dictionary and found that the word follow literally has an entire page of definitions. Wow! Was I ever surprised!

Let me share a few brief definitions. To follow means to go or proceed; to act in accordance; to accept authority; to come into existence as a result of something; to copy after or to imitate; to watch steadily or attend closely to. Stop for a moment and let these steep in your brain. There is so much depth to this word that I never realized before! Do you see it as well?

Typically, in my devotions, I will look up other referenced verses in the middle column of my Bible. I will also use a Bible app to search for a word or phrase. This morning, I searched for “follow me.” It did not find many verses with this exact phrase, but I did find numerous verses that had some form of the word follow in them. I immediately latched on to some of those verses and that is what I want to share with you this morning.

First, in Matthew 4:19, we found the exact phrase of “follow me.” If those were the only two words in this verse, they would be enough. Do you not agree? Can you just hear your heavenly Father saying to you, “Follow me.” He does not need to expound, or explain, or clarify, or even justify why He wants you to follow or what He expects from you if you follow. Just simply, “Follow me.”

Secondly, I looked up Psalm 63:8 which says, “My soul followeth hard after thee …” Wow! I not only must follow my Father, but I also must follow “hard.” I must strongly desire. I must be extra alert and aware that I am on the right path. I must do all in my power and with His strength to follow hard and follow close.

Thirdly, I was blessed to read Proverbs 21:21 which says, “He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour.” Am I truly a follower? Or am I one who likes to lead … my way and in my time? I pray that God will help me to be a follower … so that I may find life (versus death), righteousness (morally right and free from sin), and honour (esteem from my Father)!

Fourth, and last, and on a rather soul-searching note, I read Matthew 10:38 “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth [not] after me, is not worthy of me.” Here my heart stopped. Am I worthy of Christ? Yes, I claim Him as my Savior, but, is He my Lord as well?

Yes, I claim the name of Christ. I claim that I am a CHRISTian. But, do I follow Christ? Do I live a life that He wants me to live? Do I obey Him? For, to obey is to follow.

What about you, my friend? Do you need to find yourself on your knees, like I did, confessing your sin to your Father so that you can truly follow Him?

“Wait on the LORD, and keep his WAY …” Psalm 37:34

There are two basic definitions for the word way. The first is a track or path. The second is the method or style of doing something. Both of these, I believe, can be applied to this verse for we are to keep God’s way … follow His path … and follow His example in that way. Let us look at some of those verses that speak of the way or the path that God wants for us.

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

Proverbs 16:25 “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

Isaiah 30:21 “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”

Psalm 37:5 “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”

Proverbs 3:6 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Psalm 16:11 “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

Psalm 119:105 “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

I have not expounded on these verses because I believe that they speak for themselves. In fact, I have memorized them at some time in my life. You may have also, but the question is, “Have you followed them?” Which one are you not following? Which one did the Holy Spirit prick your heart about? This is a good time for us to seek repentance and to get back on the path that God desires for us!

Tag: follow God

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