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Written by Beth Andrews for “Deeper Roots”  @  https://dbethandrews.wordpress.com

Original post @ https://dbethandrews.wordpress.com/2024/09/23/what-does-it-mean-to-follow-jesus/

What Does it Mean to Follow Jesus?

Posted on September 23, 2024 by Beth Andrews

Back in the day, I went to many women’s conferences with ladies from my church. We would load up a couple of cars and head to Atlanta or Orlando and I almost always drove because I get antsy when I’m a passenger. On one trip one of the ladies had this new-fangled thing called a GPS that gave her turn-by-turn directions so we put her in the lead and I followed behind. I knew the first part of the route, so I wasn’t too worried, but I wasn’t familiar with the Atlanta end of the journey so I stuck to her bumper like glue. Wherever she turned I turned, which was great except at one point she turned the wrong way down a one-way street and I went in right after her. I trusted that she and her navigator knew what they were doing. Thankfully, we got to our destination and made it back home again.

In fifty-plus years of following Jesus, I have learned that the journey is not always straight and smooth. Sometimes He takes me down paths that looked like the wrong way. Sometimes He turns left when I think we need to go right, or He’ll go straight when I am convinced we should have turned. Sometimes He goes into dark tunnels or tight, narrow paths and I wonder if I will make it through. And the hardest part of it all is that I can’t see past Him; I don’t know what’s down the road and, honestly, if I could have foreseen what was ahead, I probably would have made a fast U-turn.

Jesus offers us the greatest and most challenging adventure. He doesn’t tell us where He’s going or how the journey will be. He doesn’t let us see the map or use a GPS or even print out the directions. He simply says, “Follow me” (Lk 9:59).

I was meditating on His words and wrote this in the margin of my Bible: “Child, will you follow me to hard places, down exhausting trails into deep valleys and up steep, impossible cliffs? Will you go with me to painful places? Are you willing to lose everything to walk with me?” My heart says “Yes,” but, honestly, sometimes my weary body and my anxious mind are not so sure.

Beloved, the Christian life is a journey, a step-by-step walk of faith. But you and I can trust our Guide, to get us all the way Home.

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P.S. (from bruce) When there is no other place to turn…turn to God !!  If you’re not a “born again” Christian, is the Holy Spirit urging you to open this link ??  Here is the truth about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…   https://godsmanforever.com

To my brothers and sisters in Christ, please feel free to share this message of the cross with those in need…