Follow Me

A few days ago, I was in a neighboring town, G-, with Nathan.  We'd met up that afternoon to finish up some wedding business and play at the zoo.  Since he was coming over for dinner, we decided to split up and each drive our cars back to E-, where I'm from.  "Follow me to your house?" he asked, as I grabbed my keys from my purse.

"Sure."

Now, since G- is only 15 minutes from my home, I've spent a lot of time there and I know my way around the town fairly well.  I follow him out of the parking lot just fine, down the street, and through the first turn, but as we're sitting at a stop sign I think... I wouldn't turn here, I'd follow this road down to the bypass... it's so much faster that way.  When Nathan turns, I say, "See-ya!" and go my own way.  A few blocks down I see him pull up to the bypass as well, and I feel my stomach sink.  So much for following, Lauren.  Great job!  And I remember the words that Jesus said to his first disciples.

Every day I'm trying to follow Jesus in familiar territory.  People that I see every day, and places that I go to daily.  All of the same-ness makes me very comfortable, and I reason that I've done this before and I know the best way.  That's the point when my reason leads me straight to the original sin--telling God that I know what is best for me.  Eve chose the fruit over the command of God; her reason led her to believe that eating the forbidden fruit was the best thing to do in that situation, but she was badly mistaken.  I wonder how often I miss God's best, because I've reasoned that my way is best.

Of course, being unwilling to follow Nathan down the "longer" path seems like a little example, but I think that small instances often reveal larger patterns in our lives.

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."
Proverbs 14:12