FOLLOWING JESUS

I've always believed that just hearing a sermon or just reading my Bible was not enough. If I didn't put the new principle I was leaning about into action or into my experience in some way it forever remained a theory or concept rather than a truth for me. In other words, it didn't change my attitudes or behavior. As I see it, the whole point of learning about Jesus is not to increase my knowledge but to gain the ability to act and think more like Him. For those reasons, I was especially happy to hear about the children's class my daughter, Connie, taught last Sunday.

Preparing to Follow

Connie is our pastor's wife and she filled in to teach the first-fifth grade class Sunday school. She shared the same passage of scripture with the children that our pastor was using in his sermon but from a little different perspective. She chose to give one verse special emphasis. After washing the disciples' feet Jesus told them, "I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you." (John 13:15 NLT)

Connie explained how dirty the disciples' feet must have been because they always walked dusty trails while making the point that Jesus also meant we should try to follow His example in everything we do, not just washing each others feet, even though that is part of it. When she was through talking she rolled out a length of paper and laid it down to cover the enter aisle of the room and told the children to take off their shoes and socks.

Austin and Chloe

A young man, Austin, helped the eighteen children to choose one of six paint colors to cover their feet before 'following Jesus' done the paper road. Connie waited at the other end to wash the feet of the first child. Once washed, that child washed the feet of the next class member and so on before each child signed his foot prints. Connie said she couldn't get over how excited and happy the children were to wash their classmate's feet and help each other.

Once everyone had walked down the road all of the children wanted to wash Connie's feet so she took her turn. Then, they turned to Austin. "No," he protested shyly, but the children began to chant his name until he relented. When he reached the end of the road, Chloe, a first grader, couldn't wait to wash his feet as she had been the last child to walk and hadn't had a special pair of feet to wash!

The Road to Following Jesus

Connie said that she's going to laminate the 'road' and hang it on the wall outside the children's room. Hopefully they will never forget the joy they felt in serving and helping each other that morning!

As I listened I couldn't help wondering again, "Why is it so hard for us adults to step out and experience the truths we listen to week after week. It certainly isn't because we don't believe. Is it as simple as: I will feel silly or what will others think? Or do we wonder: what will this cost me or how is it going to impact my life? Whatever the reason, if we continue to live our lives in the same old ruts we are missing the joy that comes from acting upon Biblical principles and seeking God's wisdom for imaginative ways of reaching out to the people around us!

This is a new year, should or could we make a resolution to break out of our behavioral ruts? We might experience miraculous signs and wonders we didn't know were possible. We might see God's healing power poured out in mighty dimensions. We might even find we have become bold in sharing our faith. In short, we might find ourselves thinking, feeling, and acting more like Jesus.