When I was young, before my teens, we would often play a game called Follow the Leader and when following the leader in this game is to do what the leader did. If the leader jumps, you jump. If the leader ran or climbed a fence, you did the same. Hence, we can say that following is to imitate the leader. Jesus said this about following him. “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 NIV) Well, back to the game, if Jesus is the light and walks in the light, then if I follow Him, then I too am in the light, and I too am light because a follower imitates the leader and the Holy Spirit helps us to do both follow and imitate.

If, while playing the game, the leader walks in the sand or the snow, then we who follow must step where the leader stepped. Therefore to follow Jesus, we must walk in His footsteps without changing His steps’ imprint, so we must also imitate Him. To imitate Jesus Christ, we must learn to think and act like Jesus Christ to follow him accurately. Every action that the leader makes in the game of following the leader must be carried out. To be successful, we must stop trying to do something else behind the leader. When we do, we are not following.

What then is the first thing a follower must do to follow the leader accurately? The follower can no longer think of what to do and when to do it. The key to this is in Psalm 46:10 when God says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” This is the basis of all spiritual work. Let the voice of the Holy Spirit tell you what to do and when to do it. When you listen and do what the Holy Spirit says to do, and you do it. You are following Christ in His footsteps. Let me remind you following in Christ’s footsteps is not easy. Like in the game I play as a pre-teen, the leader would jump over, crawl under, climb over obstacles. In life, we face many challenges but if we follow Jesus Christ and imitate what He does, we get over them. The game begins when the leader Jesus said, “Come, follow me,” (Matthew 4:19 NIV)

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