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Blindly Following the Leader

By June 18, 2014August 30th, 2022Devotional

Last evening I returned from a short business trip in southern Indiana. As I was getting off the exit near home, traffic was tied up as a mother goose was crossing a busy street. Several steps behind her, a young gosling was stuck in the median, trying to decide if it should jump onto the street and follow the mother or not. The mother goose was waiting for the little one to follow but after several minutes she returned to the median and coaxed the young one to follow. It was quite a sight and while there were one or two drivers who grew exceedingly impatient and tried to drive around the scene, most of us carefully watched the action to see what would happen. Especially after a long day working, I marveled at the whole thing.

It’s not often that I see animals trying to cross busy steets – but this morning, on the way to work, even closer to home, an almost identical thing happened. Only this time, it was a mother duck and her three chicks. The biggest difference in the story is that she confidently strode out toward the river and her chicks didn’t take their eyes off their mother the whole time – total trust – not a moment of hesitation. And while mother duck knew exactly where she wanted to go, the ducklings were focused on her – not on the ultimate destination. All four made it safely to the other side.

These two examples reminded me of our walk with God. Sometimes, we are not sure of where we are going and it is a little scary to take the first step. Then God waits patiently for us to follow Him – coaxing us a little along the way if He needs to. And if other stuff gets in the way, then those things will just have to wait. Because nothing is as important to God as making sure that we are safe and knowing that we are loved. For others of us, though, we don’t worry about the ultimate destination – we keep our eyes firmly fixed on God and trust that He will lead us safely to where He wants us to be. We don’t usually need coaxing to follow – we are all “in.” And when that happens, things even move a little faster than they do when we think about each step and whether or not it is safe to follow. I think that is where trust comes in – do we, or don’t we trust God to be the Lord of our lives?

The verse tonight assures us that Jesus doesn’t lose any of us who choose to follow Him. He considers it a sacred trust that God has entrusted us to the care of Jesus. Jesus tells His Father, through the words of the apostle John, in John 17:12, “While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.” By the way, the one who was doomed to destruction? Of course, it was Judas, the one who betrayed Christ.

My encouragement this evening is that God wants us to blindly follow His Son, Jesus, who is our intercessor and has been entrusted with our care. My prayer is that you will realize that God knows what is best for us and we are commanded to “follow Him.” We already know the destination – eternal life with God – but the easiest and most peaceful way to get there is stay focused on Jesus. Period… The rest will take care of itself. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…

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