Follow Me
The "moving and stopping cloud" was the sign God used for the Israelites when they were traveling in the wilderness. If the cloud stopped, they were to stop and if the cloud moved, then they were to move. Can this be comparable to the Holy Spirit that we have available today? I believe so. He wants to tells us when and where to go, and what to do, during the course of our day.
For those of us who are agenda makers, this can be a difficult way to live. We feel secure with a plan. Our natural leaning is to be able to see ahead of us, and a plan seems to satisfy that need. So, to present a clean slate before the Lord and have Him write on it for our lives, can seem insane. "Lay down your nets and follow Me," He says. Could our nets include our own plans?
Last night I was feeling a little lost, not knowing what lay ahead for the evening. I decided to relax, though, and go with it, thinking that the Lord would fill it with something. And He did. He gave me something to do, putting before me something to enjoy; something only He and a few others in my life know about, and so I realized it was a personal blessing from Him to me, and I believe He was trying to show me that His ways are truly better than mine, and that I can trust Him with my life.
Is there any risk in following Him, and how would our lives look different if we indeed laid down all our nets, and did follow Him? I think we would have life abundant, in the sense, that He defines it. It would be His agenda instead of our own that would be fulfilled, and that can only be good. We'd find ourselves on adventures we would never have dreamed we'd be a part of, living and loving as He does. "Our nets" would pale by comparison, and not only "pale" but we'd be living the wrong life, sadly.
Are we still holding on to some of the nets we have? Remember our nets catch fish, representing the material provisions we procure for ourselves, living as "unto ourselves; His nets catch men, representing us laying down our lives on behalf of others, truly letting Him live His life through us, as we give our lives as a living sacrifice.
The cloud moves; will we go? The cloud stops; will we stop? Have we given Him, the One we call Lord, permission to direct us and when He does, will we follow? This act of submission will make all the difference of living the life He planned for us, or living the life we planned. If we do this, can we really call Him Lord? Food for thought.
For those of us who are agenda makers, this can be a difficult way to live. We feel secure with a plan. Our natural leaning is to be able to see ahead of us, and a plan seems to satisfy that need. So, to present a clean slate before the Lord and have Him write on it for our lives, can seem insane. "Lay down your nets and follow Me," He says. Could our nets include our own plans?
Last night I was feeling a little lost, not knowing what lay ahead for the evening. I decided to relax, though, and go with it, thinking that the Lord would fill it with something. And He did. He gave me something to do, putting before me something to enjoy; something only He and a few others in my life know about, and so I realized it was a personal blessing from Him to me, and I believe He was trying to show me that His ways are truly better than mine, and that I can trust Him with my life.
Is there any risk in following Him, and how would our lives look different if we indeed laid down all our nets, and did follow Him? I think we would have life abundant, in the sense, that He defines it. It would be His agenda instead of our own that would be fulfilled, and that can only be good. We'd find ourselves on adventures we would never have dreamed we'd be a part of, living and loving as He does. "Our nets" would pale by comparison, and not only "pale" but we'd be living the wrong life, sadly.
Are we still holding on to some of the nets we have? Remember our nets catch fish, representing the material provisions we procure for ourselves, living as "unto ourselves; His nets catch men, representing us laying down our lives on behalf of others, truly letting Him live His life through us, as we give our lives as a living sacrifice.
The cloud moves; will we go? The cloud stops; will we stop? Have we given Him, the One we call Lord, permission to direct us and when He does, will we follow? This act of submission will make all the difference of living the life He planned for us, or living the life we planned. If we do this, can we really call Him Lord? Food for thought.
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