“I am the light of the world
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12
If you and I are truly disciples, we will follow Jesus.
Following Him may begin as a have-to. But the longer I follow Him, the more I want to follow Him.
In Him, I find my place. My people. My purpose. No better place to be. Staying close to Jesus brings safety and security. It brings peace and it brings joy.
This may beg the question, How do I know I’m following Jesus?
The answer is in the verse above: you are walking in the light instead of the darkness.
Followers of Jesus walk in the light of His presence. One indicator we are staying close to Him is fellowship with other believers. I John 1:7a says:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another …
Think about it. If you are following hard after Jesus – staying right on His heels – there will be other believers walking (or running!) right along with you! A good self-check to ask, “Am I going at this alone?”
And we allow His WORD to illumine our path:
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. [Psalm 119:105]
More self-check questions:
- Do I intentionally and consciously make decisions based upon the WORD of God?
- Have I ever made a course correction based upon the WORD of God?
- Do I humbly receive the guidance of the WORD?
- Do I downplay the commands of Scripture when they contradict my wants, desires, or choices?
Following hard after Jesus can be…hard. But if you know Jesus, you have the “light of life” because His Holy Spirit has taken up residence in your heart. He empowers us to keep walking, and to keep following.
Just as our physical muscles get stronger as they are used, so do our faith muscles. And somewhere along the journey have-to gives way to want-to and then delight-to and even need-to.
We come to realize that staying close to Jesus is the best place, the safest place, and the most joyous place. There’s scary stuff out there in the dark! Why mess with that when I can stay in the light with my Lord?!
I pray this week finds you walking in the light, as you follow hard after our Lord!
As our ladies’ group wrapped up their study of Esther, it was a joy to celebrate God’s sovereignty as we examined the many ways He turned the tables in the events unfolding in the book of Esther. In this week’s teaching lecture, Laura reminded us that He does the same in our lives today! We hope this week’s devotional video (and the entire study of Esther) will prompt you to turn your heart to Him!
