Mark 2:14
“ And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.”
Two of the most powerful words that Jesus said was, “Follow me.” I seriously doubt the disciples understood what following Jesus would do for their lives. Because they obeyed this simple command, their lives were turned upside down. They went from ordinary people to leaders in Christianity. They did not know who they were following at the time, but they knew there was something different about Him.
The same command to follow Jesus is still relevant today. The difference between the command that Jesus gave to the first disciples and today is that He has sent Christians out in His place and employed them to get others to follow. The greatest accomplishment of your life will be your ability to get people to follow you as you follow Christ. Nothing will really matter when life is all over other than if you got someone to follow you as you follow Christ. I find five observations that we must apply to our lives from the command, “Follow me.”
First, you must be following someone if you want someone to follow you. Everyone is following someone, but it is important that you follow the right person if you want others to follow you. The question you need to ask yourself is, are you following Christ? Are you following every step He takes? Just like a child puts their feet in the footprints of their parents pathway on a snowy day, you should be putting your feet where Jesus walks if you want others to follow you. If you are following someone, then you can lead others to the same place you are going.
Second, people won’t follow you unless you go ask them. Jesus had to ask the disciples to follow Him. They would not have followed Him if all He had done was walk by them. You will never get anyone to follow you if you don’t ask them. First, you need to ask them if they are saved. Second, you need to ask people to follow you to church and to soul winning. Unless you ask, they will not follow.
Third, people won’t follow you unless you have a purpose. The reason you should want people to follow you is so you can disciple them. Your desire should be to show them how to serve the LORD. If you have no reason for people to follow you, then they will have no reason to leave what they are doing to follow you. Adopt the Great Commission as your purpose for asking people to follow you. It is to show them how they can do what you are doing for Christ.
Fourth, don’t lead those who follow you astray. It is so important that you don’t break the trust of those who have chosen to follow you. When someone has chosen to follow you, they are depending upon you to lead them down the right pathway. Don’t disappoint them. The only way you won’t disappoint them is if you continue to follow the Scriptures.
Fifth, as they follow you, be sure to point them to follow Christ. Friend, you are not the focus. When someone begins to follow you, do your best to point them to Christ. Teach them to take their eyes off you and put them on Christ. You will disappoint them, and that will lead them to be disillusioned. If you train them to keep their eyes on Christ, then they will never be disillusioned with the person they follow.
The simple command to “Follow me” should be heeded by every Christian. My question for you is, who are you following? Are you following Christ? Until you follow Christ, you will have no reason to have others follow you. I challenge you today to keep your eyes on Christ, and go challenge others to follow you as you point them to eventually follow Christ.