“Follow me.”
Pretty simple. Jesus didn’t invite us to talk about following. Or to make a plan to follow. Or to study how people used to follow, or criticize how someone else follows. Or judge those who don’t.
He didn’t tell us to get everything in order before we start. In fact, He was clear that following Him was the only way to really get things figured out.
I thought, once upon a time, I was supposed to “discern” God’s plan for me (“discern” sounds more religious than “figure out”). Now I’m pretty sure all that waiting-around-and-discerning is just fearful wasting time.
His plan is for me to follow Him. And love the people I encounter along the way.
For the last few years a big part of following, for me, has involved riding my bike and then inviting other folks to ride bikes. I don’t know if bike riding was God’s big master plan for my life, I just know it’s something I enjoy and once I started God used it in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Good enough for me.
Maybe following doesn’t mean figuring out precisely what God wants you and me to do with our days. Maybe it means doing a lot of what we enjoy, what we’re good at, what brings us peace and satisfaction, and making sure Jesus is at the center of the journey.
Because the point – the whole point, the reason we’re here – is to know Him and become a little more like Him.
In my ideal vision of the FREEDOM TOUR I imagine a group of friends moving down the road toward a more just world. I imagine laughter and transparency and deep connections. I imagine others who see what’s happening, who recognize something life-affirming and want to be closer to it.
I imagine Jesus in the midst of everything.
Sure, it’s about miles and dollars because it’s a bike tour and because we have fun and we care about justice for our kids.
But it’s really about following, about doing whatever we do as a way of becoming more like Jesus. Letting go of the reins. Trusting Him for the outcome.