Pouring over photos from the past, my grandfather shared story after story of his lifetime experiences. One tale in particular caught my attention about his time spent in the Army:
“We had an officer at training that was tough. He was the kind of guy that you knew he meant business. I found out he survived both World War II and Korea. The more he trained us, I realized that all this stuff was hard, sure, but what we were learning was of upmost importance for our survival.
I knew this officer really knew his stuff. He knew what it took to get from the beginning to the end without dying in the middle—so I stuck with him. Wherever he went, you knew I was following. Whatever he said, I was going to say too. Whatever he did, I was going copy it.
He was going to get you where you needed to go. He was someone that you wanted follow because, at times, your life literally depended on it.”
The story struck me hard. It sounded all too familiar. I found myself asking, “Isn’t this exactly how we should respond when we choose to follow Jesus?” We learn about Him. We decide we want a relationship with Him. We desire to grow in trust and love Him, so our response should be to follow unconditionally, wherever He leads.
Looking in Scripture, Jesus calls his first disciples, Simon Peter and Andrew. These men know Jesus; they’ve heard some of His teachings. They know a bit about Christ’s heart, character, and have learned He is a trustworthy kind of guy. I absolutely love when Jesus says, “‘Come, follow me […] and I will make you fishers of men.’ [And] At once they left their nets and followed him.” (Matthew 4:19-20)
“At once.”
Or for some versions, “immediately.”
These men didn’t even question what “fishers of men” meant (you just know they were thinking it) because they knew Jesus was going to get them where they needed to go. Jesus was living an uncommon life, getting ready to impact the world with God’s love, and these men were saying, “Yes!” No details required.
Andy Stanley states: “A disciple is a person who looks to someone and says, ‘Give me direction. Show me how to live my life and the answer—before you even give me an answer—I want you to know the answer is, YES.’”*
How different would our lives look if we continually responded to Jesus in this manner? Rather than questioning His intentions, trying to add our detours to His plan, or timidly agreeing to follow—what if we decided at once we would follow Him?
Reflecting on my twenty-five years, while not a long time, the best moments in my history always are the ones where I chose to follow Jesus wholeheartedly. Ironically, these were usually the times that seemed harder to navigate, uncertainty lied around each corner, but God always remained faithful. His plan turned out to be better than mine, every time.
I ask myself, so why then, don’t I do this more often? Why do I continually try to manipulate my life to fit my own agenda when it never turns out half as great as the plan Jesus has in mind? It’s mostly due to a control-issue. However, the next big question that lands on my heart is, “Victoria, do you trust Me?” That, my friends, is not a question of my own.
I say I love the Lord. I say I want to grow in my relationship with Christ. I say I desire for the Holy Spirit to lead me to my next steps.
It’s about time I start DOING it—”At once”.
Thankfully, my grandfather is able to look back on his time in the Army today because he is alive and well. The Lord is still working in huge ways in and through his life. My grandpa will tell you, though, this officer he continually followed was a huge reason for that.
How about we start actually following wherever Jesus leads? So when we’re 79-years old we can talk to our grandchildren about our Friend whose steps we followed and the incredible ride it’s been thus far.
Whatever Jesus says, we should be speaking it too. Whatever Jesus does, we should do too. Wherever Jesus goes, we should follow wholeheartedly. Our life truly does depend on it.
*quote by Andy Stanley from Your Move: “Christian – Brand Recognition” podcast
