Ordinary Time

Pause

“Where you go, I'll go; Where you stay, I'll stay; When you move, I'll move; I will follow you. Who you love, I'll love; How you serve, I'll serve; If this life I lose, I will follow you.”

Chris Tomlin

This is the essence of what it means to be a disciple. Disciples are students; they follow their teacher and their teacher’s teaching.

In a culture where independence is prized above all else, it’s easy to believe that being a follower is a bad thing. Truthfully? It all depends on who you choose to follow.

Listen

Joshua then said to the Israelites, “Draw near and hear the words of the Lord your God.” Joshua said, “By this you shall know that among you is the living God who without fail will drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites: the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going to pass before you into the Jordan. So now select twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing from above shall be cut off; they shall stand in a single heap.”

Joshua 3:9-13

Think

When I was in college, I helped a film major friend make a movie. I hated it. I wanted to know the whole story, but I was only given the pages of the script with my scenes. I kept asking my friend for more information, but he told me I didn’t need to know those details. It was the beginning and end of my film career.

On the brink of crossing into the Promised Land, Joshua was told to select twelve men. He wasn’t told why, or what their role would be. He was just told to choose them.

When you follow God, sometimes you only get to know part of the plan. We live in a world of instant access to amazing amounts of information, and it’s frustrating when we don’t get the answers we want right when we want them. We can read Joshua chapter 4 to find out what happened with the twelve men, but in life, there’s no reading ahead. Following means trusting. Do you trust God’s leadership?

Katie Day

Pray

God, I want to know your plans. Help me to have patience, and remind me that you are God, and I am not. I may not always understand your ways, but I am grateful for your love and your presence in my life. Amen.

Go

An ancient Jewish saying goes like this:

“May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.”

It was meant as encouragement to be a good disciple: follow your rabbi, your teacher, so closely that you get dusty from the dirt he kicks up as he walks. Follow not only what he teaches but also where he goes and what he does.

May you, today, respond to God’s call to follow.

May you be covered in the dust of the Rabbi.