You Lead. I'll Follow.

On Sunday, I met up with my son, his wife and five children in Houston to catch a flight together for a Spring break week in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Right from the get-go, my son Ryan, became the Pied Piper, so to speak, as he gathered the eight of us to all get on the plane with him because of his "priority" status. He travels so much that his perks benefitted all of us. When our flight arrived in Cabo, once again, Ryan led and we followed as we made it through the maze of hundreds of people getting through customs. He was a Papa Rooster gathering all his chickens together and it benefitted us all because he made it through the fastest customs line. Then, we followed him as he led us to the large van that awaited us and all of our luggage. We made it to the resort and home where we'd be staying the next several days, followed by him being in his tour guide mode as he pointed out this and that which, he insisted, would bring us so much enjoyment. Perks, benefits, and blessings.

Yesterday, my Bryson (the youngest of the crew) insisted he wanted me to follow him to the beach and the gorgeous rock formations, and see the surf billowing in with spectacular force and beauty. Bryson had been here before and he knew the spots to see and places to go. He was so attentive to making sure I could maneuver through the high tide areas and to be sure I didn't fall on some of the rough terrains. As long as I stayed close to him and walked in his tracks, I made it through just fine. He led. I followed.

These two paragraphs were from my journal yesterday. I knew a blog was underway -- being led and following that resulted in some outstanding perks, benefits, and blessings. God beckons us to follow Him so He can shower His blessings upon us. Just as following my son and grandson had perks, benefits, and blessings, I need to think again about the extraordinary, countless benefits of following Jesus as His fully devoted follower.

~ There is such comfort in knowing that He forgives the many mistakes we've made as soon as we ask Him and He calls us sons and daughters. We get the royal first-class treatment as heirs to all his promises.
~ We have the assurance that He is with us and we have instant access to His presence in our lives. We know we are not alone, and will never again be alone.
~ The closer we get to Him as we follow Him, He helps us get closer to those we love and we start to want others to follow Him, too.

My grandchildren have to do very little to please their dad, but when they obey, respect, please and honor him, he can't help himself, he showers on the blessings even more. Even more so with our Heavenly Father!

I love Jamie Grace's song, "You Lead. I'll follow." Here are the lyrics to the chorus:

You lead, I'll follow, Your hands hold my tomorrow,
Your grip, Your grace, You know the way,
You guide me tenderly, yeah,
When you lead, I'll follow,
Just light the way and I'll go,
'Cause I know what you got for me is more then I can see,
So lead me on, on, on and on,
Just lead me on, on, on and on,

I don't know about you, but I want to hang as close as I can to my Heavenly Father because when I do, He steers me clear of the pitfalls and he pours the blessings on me. He just can't help himself. He loves me so much and He loves you, too! Let Him lead as you follow Him tightly, too!

You Lead. I'll Follow!

Check out that hairdo of the late 60s. It was called the bee-hive -- the higher the hair, the closer to God we felt! LOL! Curls-on-steroids! What was I thinking? Those were our Master's IV Quartet days when we traveled all over the U.S. and Canada to churches and events to sing our 4-part-harmony of Gospel songs. Except for the hairdo -- precious memories!

My husband was the leader and piano player in our group. He also carried the "lead" (the vocal part that generally carries the melody of the song), but often he'd say, "Karen, (his sister) take the lead on this one. Jim, our guitarist, and I would follow their lead as he'd sing the bass and I'd sing alto or tenor.

Funny how I was reminded of those times when I heard someone say "Lord, you take the lead. I'll follow." In music terms "You carry the tune and the melody of my soul and my life." Back in my early walk with Christ, I'd sing "I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back." Or, "Where He leads me, I will follow." Today, I sing Jamie Grace's song "You Lead. I'll follow."

There were times when we tried to lead God to our way of thinking by making decisions without consulting Him and listening and watching for His "Lead". We wanted Him to follow our lead, our ideas, and desires. And when we took the lead, we made some huge mistakes. We messed things up and even lost our way until we let go and followed Him again.

From the moment we wake up to when we go to sleep at night, we have decisions to make and a road to follow. If we have chosen to follow God, then He gives us clear directions for our lives. We don’t have to guess or wonder what course to take. Psalm 119:105 says "His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path", especially if we have a love relationship with Him. Following God is the best decision we can make, as He shows us how to live joy-filled and contented lives. Unnecessary failures can be avoided when our attitude is, “You lead. I'll follow.” That's when an exciting journey of faith is lived out as we're willing to listen and obey His directions.

In John 8:12, 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.’” Difficult and dark places in this world can be avoided when He lights our way. Those who listened to Jesus’ voice when He was walking on this earth and those of us who listen to Him now, get to choose between following the “Light” of the Lord or walking in the “darkness” of this world. We have a decision to make -- following the darkness or following His Light that offers us a love relationship with Him that promises joy, peace, hope and an abundant life. That's the life I want!