Day 72 "The prescription for life is to follow Him and no one else."

Day 72

Matthew 9:9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him.

Some people would say that surely Jesus must have said more than "Follow Me." Who would run off and follow a doomed prophet because of those words? Obviously Matthew would, he wrote this after all. Could it be that all Jesus said was "Follow Me"? Could it be that the only thing Jesus is commanding any of us to do is to follow Him? We get all caught up in what Christians should look like, how we should act, when we should go to Church, and where. Churches all over the world are built upon notions that were never mentioned at all by Jesus Himself; all He said was "Follow Me" or follow my lead.

I know, let's start our own religion based upon this passage. We can all walk away from our homes and families and wear traditional Jewish clothing from the Biblical era. We can live off the land and roam from city to city preaching a message of love and forgiveness and start a new movement. After all, in the literal sense, that is what Jesus is saying to us in the Gospels, is it not? Actually, as always, there is more to it than that. He said He would send His Helper, we would be persecuted, soon life would be harder, and the world would hate us. However, far too often the Word of God is taken out of context and used for personal control or gain. People excel at making their world small with laws, rules, and false beliefs. Why, you ask? So they can control it! We can't really control the things of God but rather can only submit to them. When Jesus said "Follow Me," could it be that all He was saying was "Follow Me," do as I do, live as I lived? Life can be oh so simple if we will but follow Him.

Let's learn to shake off the added burdens, unachievable goals, restricted lives, and weighted down messages of life and learn to walk in the simplicity of Christ. Everyone seems to be in search of the secret pill: you know, the one that makes everything in life blissful and perfect–the pill that allows me to just be me and never have any trials. I'm sorry my friends, such a pill does not exist. However, there is a prescription for all mankind that will lead to such a life, a prescription written by the only one who can fill it, Jesus Christ. And here it is from His own mouth, "Follow Me."

Daily Prayer: Father, help me to follow you. Show me Your ways, Oh Lord, and guide me in Your paths. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

"The prescription for life is to follow Him and no one else."

Pastor Gene Burroughs