Have you ever played Follow the Leader?  It’s a playground game where one person is chosen to be the leader and everyone else follows them and does whatever the leader does.  When I used to teach kindergarten, my students would play it often.  Problems would arise when the students couldn’t decide who was going to be leader or when one of the followers decided he was tired of following and chose to break off and do his own thing.

In Matthew 4:19, Jesus says,

Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.

The invitation He issued isn’t just for those He was speaking to that day.  It applies to all who will follow.  Just like in my kindergarten class, we encounter problems when we argue with Jesus over who will be the leader of our life.  Will we surrender to Him and follow Him wherever He takes us or will we follow another, or even still, choose to lead ourselves.  We must choose.  No one can choose for us.

God’s chosen people, the Israelites, were faced with the same choice.  Joshua had been leading them, but only by following the Lord.  He was tired of their grumbling and complaining and tossed the challenge to them in Joshua 24:15,

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

The only way to follow someone is to spend time with them.  It’s hard to follow someone you don’t have a relationship with and don’t talk with on a regular basis.  Jesus, the Son of God, recognized this and He made it His top priority to spend quality time with the Father, above everything else, even sleep [Mark 1:35].  It is during those quiet times you can pour out your heart, ask questions, and seek His face [Matthew 26:39].  He desires this time with you.  He longs for it.  He loves you and nothing tenders His heart towards you more than you seeking time alone with Him [Jeremiah 33:3].

Have you chosen to follow Jesus?  What about when times get difficult? What about when He leads you down a path you wouldn’t have chosen for yourself? Today’s the day.  You must choose who you’re following.  Who will it be?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnscWNW1WTE[/youtube]