Follow // Five Minute Friday

Five Minute Friday (#FMFparty) gives writers a word prompt. We are encouraged to write whatever comes to mind about that word in just five minutes.  No editing, no perfection, only writing from the heart.  To find out more, visit http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/.  This week's word is "follow".

In a noisy world where everything vies for our attention, we lose so many sounds that were once prominent in our lives. We lose the sound of productivity as we get sucked into another five minutes of reading Facebook statuses or tweets while not realizing that we've been engrossed for 45 minutes already. We lose the sound of individuality as we try to emulate those we feel have arrived or have achieved something great as if they are the only ones that know the way. We lose the sound of our voice as we hear other Christians gossip and ridicule us as we try to stand up for what is right and live according to God's Word.

And in all of that, we lose the sound of God's voice because we've become accustomed to hearing whatever is speaking the loudest to us at that time. We lose the sound of His voice because we lose sight of His face, His ways, and His grace. We mask His lasting peace and joy for temporary happiness and instant thrills that this world gives us because following Him requires more of us than we are willing to give especially over an extended period of time. It's easier to remain a surface Christian and pull our act together in front of other Christians for a few hours each week than it is to live ever radically for Christ as we draw lines in the sand and sift all the noise of this world through Philippians 4:8.  "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

Yet in John 10:27, Christ says, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." I love this verse because it's a statement of fact. If we are truly God's sheep, we will hear His voice and we will choose to follow Him. Hearing God's voice and remembering how sweet it is always prompts action, obedience, and love. His voice has a way of canceling out those things that have no lasting value and don't honor Christ if we choose to hear Him. God's voice calls us out from among our peers, beyond our church services, and over our mere "religion" into a real relationship where following Him becomes our natural response to His voice because we desire nothing else but Him.