“¹²Again Jesus spoke to them saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” – John 8:12 (ESV)

That word “follow” is intriguing to me in that what does it mean.

Follow: “¹to go, proceed, or come after / ²to engage in as a calling or way of life / ^3ato be or act in accordance with / ^3bto accept as authority / ^4bto seek to attain” – Merriam-Webster Online

I know that when I think of the word follow, I think more along the physical like identified in definition one above. I will go where you go, do what you do, be what you are. But what about 4b above, “to seek to attain”? That one got me as I thought of the description just below it online that read “follow knowledge”.

Following is more that just the physical action of going. We are to learn and apply based on that learning as well. Below is the commentary from my NIV Bible that helped me with my understanding of what it means to follow Christ.

“As a soldier follows his captain, so we should follow Christ, our commander. As a slave follows his master, so we should follow Christ, our Lord. As we follow the advice of a trusted counselor, so we should follow Jesus’ commands to us in Scripture. As we follow the laws of our nation, so we should follow the laws of the kingdom of heaven.”

Follow we should as described above. Not blindly, but with purpose and resolve.

Are you aware of what following really means? Will you choose to follow? Will you follow Christ?

“¹⁵For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation…¹⁷From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” – Galatians 6:15 & 17 (ESV)

Worldly appearances are of no good to us if the heart is not in the right space. As Christians, we have be made new from the inside. We are no longer held to the law of the outside. We are to act in accordance with the marks of a true Christians as noted in Romans chapter 12.

Paul makes it clear to the Galatians that he is no longer under the rule of the Jewish law. Remember that Paul spent many years in prison with his only crime being that he was preaching the gospel. The thing that we find difficult to understand was that he was content to sit there in prison and write letters of encouragement for his fellow believers.

Paul was clear that his burden was for Christ and he fully embraced living for Jesus and not the law.

Would that we live for Christ? Will you work to glorify God each and every day and be content with your actions? Will you bear the marks of Jesus?

“²Bear one another’s burdens, ans so fulfill the law of Christ.” – Galatians 6:2 (ESV)

Christ took our sins upon himself, so us taking the burdens of others upon ourselves “is the supreme imitation of Jesus (ESV Commentary)”.

In this passage from Galatians, Paul explains to the Galatians that we are to work for each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. We are to continue lifting one another up in our times of need. We are to accept the burdens experienced by our brothers and sisters as our own and give them the assistance they need to work through it.

“¹⁰So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” – Galatians 6:10 (ESV)

As “Christians our primary allegiance is to the kingdom of God, with God as our heavenly Father (ESV Commentary)”. And therefore working for our brothers and sisters in Christ should be first on the priority list. We do not neglect others, but need to remember that family comes first.

Are you aware of the trials others are going through? Are you putting family first? Are you willing to bear the burdens of others?

We are only temporary here on the earth. As such, we must bear the temporary body and life that comes with it. We will inherit the eternal and a body to go with it.

“⁴⁹Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. ⁵⁰I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” – 1 Corinthians 15:49-50 (ESV)

Adam was made of the earth and formed from dust. We are like he in that we are simply here on this earth to do the will of God.

Jesus, at resurrection, was given a new heavenly body that is imperishable. We too will be imperishable when we have passed from this earth. The temporary we must endure and then we will be granted the opportunity to bear the eternal.

Are you celebrating the temporary of today? What are you thinking and preparing for the eternal? Are you bearing the temporary in order that you will bear the eternal?

“¹We who are strong have and obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” – Romans 15:1 (ESV)

The weak are in need and we are those that are to care for them. It is our responsibility to work to make things better for those around us. I am to be the caregiver of those less fortunate than I. I am to provide for others and not worry about the pleasing of my own desires.

As a Christian, I am to do the will of God and for the greater part of my doings, that will mean, taking care of those around me without thinking of myself. And this is where we find the difficulty in living for Christ. Isn’t our salvation to make things better for us? Aren’t we to be in a better place once we have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior?

I believe we have to be careful what we are looking and waiting for. Our better comes once we go to be with our Lord and Savior. Although, I will ask, when you see the smile on a child’s face after you just sit to play with them, or the joy in someone’s demeanor when you help them with a difficult task, how are you feeling then? You see, we are here help others and not be looking for our own gratification, although when we do complete the task of assisting others, we naturally receive glory to the degree that we are willing to do that again.

When you see others having a time of it, what is your reaction? Where are you focusing your attention in the area of glorification? Are you looking to bear the obligation of serving others before yourself?

Once again God has brought me to what He wants me to learn.

“⁴Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. ⁵For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. ⁶But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” – Romans 7:4-6 (ESV)

A pretty long passage here, but needed to gain the full effect of what God intended for me. You see, we as Christians, are no longer held to the written law to keep us doing the right things. We are now held to a higher standard as set by Christ with His death on the cross for our salvation. The written law is for those that have no moral compass or greater good or something better to live and strive for. Now that we are striving to be like Christ each and every day, we don’t “need” the law to “keep us in line”.

I remember the movie from a few years ago, “The Benchwarmers”. I know, where are you going with this one. Well, the movie was about bullying. Toward the end of the movie, one of the characters made it a point to apologize (many years later) to someone that he had bullied when they were younger. The apology was genuine and accepted. This single instance of goodness was the driving force for the recipient to accept who he was and declare to others to accept who they were as well. The movie ends with all, the bullies and those that were the recipients of the bullying, playing a game together in friendship and fun.

A lot of information to get to this point. The character that apologized did the right thing, even though the law did not “require” it. As a Christian, we are to live a life striving to be like Christ. We are to accept the responsibility of living according to the example of Christ and when we do, we do not “need” the law to “keep us in line”.

Where are you as it stands in relation to the law? Are you dependent on the written law to “keep you in line”? Are you released from the written law by your actions that demonstrate Christ?

“⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.” – John 1:6-7 (ESV)

This John was John the Baptist as you may be aware. Here it is states that he was “sent from God…as a witness”. I want to look at those last three words in the previous sentence.

John the Baptist was simply a witness and should not be confused with the messiah. He was sent to create interest and understanding about the messiah to come. He was here to draw attention to the messiah and the salvation He would provide.

“⁸He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.” – John 1:8 (ESV)

It is made clear in verse eight that John the Baptist was not the messiah and only here “to bear witness about the light”.

Let’s talk about that part. As we go through our lives, we are to “bear witness about the light”. That light is Jesus. As I read in my NIV commentary I see that “we merely reflect that light”, and I thought of the moon. The moon is not the source of the light it provides, it only reflects the light that shines on it. In fact, if we all remember, the dark side of the moon is a cold dark place. Isn’t that how we are? As we are standing in the light of the messiah, we are warm and seen as God fearing, but when we step out of the light, we are cold and dark ourselves.

We are here “to bear witness about the light” and the way we do that is to reflect the shining on us daily to those around us. The only way we are able to reflect that light is to stand in it constantly. We should be letting the light shine on us and through us to bear witness of the messiah who is the light.

Do you consider your self the light, or the witness about the light? What is your take on your position here in the world? What ways are you able to bear witness?

I know that I have been in situations where there seems to be only one or two options for resolution as I look at them. But, is that really the only solutions?

“¹⁹And her husband Joseph, be a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.” – Matthew 1:19 (ESV)

And he had every right with his choice. You see in the law of the time, Joseph could have had Mary stoned, or do as he was which was to offer her divorce. But, God provided another option, and this was a big one.

“²⁰But as he considered these things, behold, and angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’” – Matthew 1:20-21 (ESV)

We have choices and those choices may seem right in the moment and in the law. And we are right to choose either of them and proceed. But, what if there were another option? I believe that we are to be diligent in looking for the solution that glorifies God.

At the office we were discussing some tense subjects and were all looking at things from a worldly perspective. I introduced the idea to the group that we should take action in all situations from a position of love and care and that would place us in a more “right” position.

Now, I believe that there is more to it than that. I believe that we should come from the position of love and care, but also after prayer and consideration for the will of God. Our choices from love and care are a great place to start, as they were for Joseph. But when we consult with God, we get the “right” approach.

When you are looking at situations, where are you getting your choices for action? Are you working to take the “best” action as you know them? What if we waited for God to provide the “right” choice?

How many of us are pleased and excited about the prosperity we have? When we are in a state of winning, how many of us forget how we achieved the victory?

“⁴But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is not savior. ⁵It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought; ⁶but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me.” – Hosea 13:4-6 (ESV)

Here there is reference to the Israelite’s exodus from Egypt. When in the wilderness, they were fed and cared for by God. Once they had reached the point of comfort, they rebelled against God and began worshiping idols and in essence “forgot” about God and how they were brought to the place they were.

“⁷So I am to them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk beside the way. ⁸I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs; I will tear open their breast, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rip them open.” – Hosea 13:7-8 (ESV)

And as they forgot, God punished them for it. Should we expect anything less. We were delivered from sin by the saving grace of Jesus’ death. When we forget and turn away, should we not be subject to the consequences of our actions?

It is important that we are accepting of salvation as giving freely by God. It is important that we live according to the Word of God. It is important that we remember what it was that got us to where we are and celebrate that as much as, NO, MORE than the prosperity we have gained.

When you are thinking of the prosperity you have, what thoughts do you have related to the journey to get there? What goes through your mind, heart, and actions with regard to the how? Are you conscious of and remember how you got there?

This morning I was led to continue my study of the word “bear”. The passage I read was of Daniel’s vision of the four beasts.

“¹In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of he head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter.” – Daniel 7:1 (ESV)

Daniel had his dreams and visions, wrote them down, and declared them. Sounds simple enough. God gives the information needed to move forward, we only need to head in that direction.

God gave to Daniel for him to share and provide the map of how to get there. It was the role of those that heard the map to follow and get where God intended them to go.

God gives us the map and it is up to us to follow it and arrive at the predetermined destination provided by God. Our destination as I know it is the heavenly kingdom. Getting there is no small instant feat. We have to follow the map provided in God’s Word. We are not going to get there without following the map.

For each of us, we look to the same place for the map and directions, but our path is different. Our “open road” will come at different times and our “obstacles” will be different and come at different times as well. What we should be doing is simply following the map for us as laid out by God in His Word. The only way to follow the map, is to read and study it.

Are you aware of the map for your life that God has provided? What do you know about your map? Have you started in the direction God has you going as identified in His Word and on the map for your life?