Following the Leader

Today at church, my pastor talked about Jesus being the Good Shepherd and leading His sheep. This message was exactly what I needed to hear today.
 
In this clip from Peter Pan (one of my favorite movies of all time) the lost boys and little Michael are following John as he leads them to fight the Indians.  They follow in his exact steps and trust him to lead them. As my pastor talked about following Christ and being aware of false leaders, my mind wandered to this clip. I was thinking of the song in my head, imagining myself in line with the lost boys walking through fields and jumping on rocks. Then I felt very convicted as I realized, who is it that I am following?
 
The truth is, I am a follower. It’s hard to admit, but I always have been. I feel like I am easy persuaded, extremely gullible and very easy to please. I like to be liked by others. I want to have lots of friends. Lately, I have been wanting to hang out with some old friends that I used to follow when I wasn’t living right. They are good friends to me and seem to have a lot of fun, so I sinfully desire to be a part of what they are doing. But these people are like “thieves and robbers” to cause me to go astray (John 10:10). Their intentions may not necessarily be bad, but where I am at in my life, I shouldn’t be allowing myself to be influenced by the actions they take part in, from gossiping or getting angry to partying or cussing. These are not fruit that I should be producing (Galatians 5:19-21). I should be producing good fruit and be surrounding myself with people producing similar fruits.

The only right leader that I should be following is Jesus. Jesus says that He is the door of the sheep (John 10:7).  This means that He is the only good shepherd for His sheep and that the way that He is leading is the right way, to eternal life. God gave us a good shepherd to follow (Ezekiel 34:23) so that we may have eternal life (John 10:9-10).
 
Why follow this leader? Because He loves us! He loves His sheep so much that He laid down His life for us, (John 10:11) so that we may live eternally. Jesus willingly died for us (John 10:17-18). One of my favorite songs is For Miles by Thrice. In this song, they sing “there’s no greater love than that one shed His blood for His friends.”  They are referring to John 15:13- greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for His friends.
 
Jesus is our friend! The perfect friend for me to follow! It’s okay to be a follower, if I'm following strong after Him. I can hang out with other “sheep” that are following Him also. I just need to remind myself that He really is the only way and that He loves me and wants me to follow Him.