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Growing up, I had a pesky little sister four years my junior. She seemed to follow me everywhere. If I wanted to go for a walk to get away from her or ride my bike, suddenly, she wanted to do the same thing.
It was annoying to have someone following me everywhere. Trying to lose her was sometimes fun, though!
It is ironic that nowadays, everyone seems to want others to follow them. We see this daily in our social media news feed. Follow me on Instagram. Follow me on Twitter. Follow my blog. Follow me … follow me … follow me. Everybody wants a following.
Does it cost us anything to follow someone on social media? Not really.
Eventually, we may see too many posts or emails from them. It might start to get on our nerves. Then we simply "unfollow" the friend or the page or the blog and move on with our lives. Nothing lost. Nothing gained.
All this following got me to thinking about Jesus, though.
Mark 1:16-18 – As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him. (NIV)
When He asked His disciples to follow Him, they dropped whatever they were doing and followed. They left their jobs. They left their families. It cost them a great deal to follow Jesus. But what they gained was priceless. He is the one Person that everyone should be following.
So, if we follow Jesus as Christians today, will our lives suddenly become perfect? No, it can still cost much to follow Jesus. We may lose friends when we choose not to participate in certain activities. Sadly, becoming a Christian could cause family issues, because of our new convictions.
But His gifts of forgiveness and a relationship with God make it all worthwhile. He has our best interests at heart every moment of our lives. After that, the benefits are out of this world! How wonderful it is to know Him and to trust Him!
As for my little sister, I wish that there were a way to go back in time and enjoy those early years with her again. I'd handle it a bit differently and ask her to follow me.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son Jesus. Help us to follow Him more than anything else in our lives. Help us yield ourselves to His lead in our lives, wherever that may take us. In the powerful, mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
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Good word Melinda. Thanks!
Great words of wisdom, Melinda.
Thanks for sharing this devotional with us. Blessings.
I was a little sister. Thanks for a new insight on my following.
Thank you for your devotional today Melinda. It was very good!
Thank you, Melinda, for this encouraging and thoughtful message.
Thanks for sharing, I have been considering re-doing my friends list to under 20, you are so clear, we can’t go back.
I will ponder and delete connections over this next few days.
Thanks.
Dear Melinda,
Thank you for a touching and beautiful devotional. At times I am caring for a couple of young great-grand children. Every second they follow me is an opportunity to teach them about Jesus. Quite different than my siblings following me when I was the eldest child, I savor every moment with these little ones.
Hi Melinda,
A very mindful devotional. Yes, in today’s hi-tech world there are so many “follow me” requests but it is much better to follow our Jesus who is ever there and ever joyful to have us follow HIM and with the best results.
Thank you and blessings for your thoughtful writing.
(B.C.)
Melinda,
Thank you for this insightful message today. As you say, making the decision to follow Christ can come at a price. For me, l have lost some friends since becoming a Christian. My parents, who don’t know Christ, don’t speak to me, basically because of my faith.
But as you say, the benefits are priceless. And in the meantime, we can always pray for those who stopped following us and have faith that they will come to know the love of Jesus Christ, as we do.
Blessings and peace.
Really enjoyed being reminded of the Big Sister-Little Sister relationship from you today, Melinda. My ‘little’ sister was unexpectedly killed at 76 and indeed I had many regrets, having tried many times to reach out to her with no result. Now I work at reaching out to her family. Thank you for sharing your understanding today. Keep writing.