I remember going on a mission trip to Mississippi that involved our team driving through Kansas City. We had four or five vehicles in our caravan, and my vehicle was near the front. There was a fair amount of traffic, and I was not very focused on keeping all of our cars closely together. Thanks to cell phones, it is much easier to regroup via text messages then stressing about keeping a group tightly together in city traffic. Once we were out of the Kansas City metro, we noticed that one of our vehicles was no longer with us. It was about that time that one of that vehicle’s passengers called me. They had ended up on an entirely different interstate, and ended up driving about 45 minutes in the wrong direction. The reason? They saw a car similar to mine take the exit for that interstate, and simply followed it. Imagine their surprise when that car pulled into a gas station, and they realized it was most certainly not me!
Thanks to to GPS and texting this ended up not being a big deal, and it’s something we all laugh about. I fear, however, that there are plenty of other times when we follow those that we should not, and such following gets us into substantially more trouble. Here is a question I want all of us to think about today. Do we always follow God, or do we sometimes follow others whose views are not in line with God? Do we follow God’s advice for how to live life, or do we instead follow any one of the many paths the world tells us to. Let me be honest. Too often we choose to follow the opinions of human beings rather than the wisdom and commands of God. We even try to smash those worldly ideas into our faith system in an attempt to convince ourselves we are following God even when we are not. That’s really doing things backwards. The way we act in the world should always be shaped by God, and our faith should never be shaped by the world. Checkout this passage from 1 John:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15-17
It’s ok to like things in the world and to find plenty of enjoyment from the world. The world, and those in it, should never be what leads us. To follow others instead of God, even when we like what they say, can lead us way off of God’s path. We need to keep our eyes, our hearts, and our minds fixed upon God, following His wisdom and commands. When we do, we will encounter all sorts of blessed destination in this life and for all eternity.
