When certain plants grow they will do something that is rather interesting. They will “follow” the sun as it moves across the sky. You might look at a plant in the morning and it will be kind of leaning towards the sun when it rises, and by the end of the day the plant will have leaned all the way over to the other side, as the sun sets.
Sometimes if you have ever grown plants in your house you may have noticed this. Now, certain plants will require more or less sunlight than others, but I would encourage you to try this experiment sometime. Take some kind of a fruit or vegetable seed and plant it in a pot in your house, and as soon as that seed breaks through the surface of the soil watch what happens. That plant will actually lean towards wherever the sunlight is coming from. Take that plant and spin it in the exact opposite direction that it is leaning, and guess what will happen? It will straighten up and lean itself back towards the sun once again.
We need to be like this as well. We need to lean towards the Son, seeking His light. We need to follow Him, and let Him lead our lives. We need to be like the apostles James, John, Peter, and Andrew, who, when Jesus said, “Follow me,” left everything behind, and followed Him.
Matthew 4:18-22 “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.”
To follow something means to go after, to pursue, or to move behind in the same path or direction. This is exactly what Jesus’ disciples did. They left everything behind; their homes, their jobs, and their earthly families. They gave their entire being to the Lord, and this is what we need to do towards Christ as well.
Jesus has laid down the path, and we need to follow. He has shown us the way, lighting up the narrow road we need to take, and has given us all the instructions that we need to reach Him at the end of it.
John 12:26 “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.”
To follow Jesus means that we need to deny ourselves what we want and want to do, but this is something that many people have a difficult time understanding or obeying. The life of a Christian is not multiple choice, where you get to do what you want, and live whatever way you please. We do what He wants, and live the way that He wants us to live. We conform ourselves to Christ.
Luke 9:23 “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
Like a plant that follows the sun, searching for its light, let us follow the true Light which is Jesus, so we may receive His life.
John 8:12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 