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Oct 25, 2024 06:00am

Ready to Follow

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When my husband, Shaun, was younger, he knew the drill. And he was ready. As soon as his dad, Larry, said they were moving, he would have his box ready to pack. As a pastor, Larry would go where the Lord led.

And Shaun and Noma would follow, even if it meant leaving a place they loved with friends and people that felt like family.

He talks about his love of the outdoors in Louisiana with the swamps, the trees, and the wildlife. And that if he had the chance to go back to anywhere they had been, it would be Louisiana.

Acts 18:19-22
“19 They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.
20 When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined.
21 But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.
22 When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.”

Paul, Aquila, and Priscilla had spent a while in Corinth. They traveled to Ephesus and began working there. When it was time to go, Aquila and Priscilla stayed there. Even when the people at Ephesus pleaded for Paul to stay, he knew it was time to leave.

Why?

Because He was following his Father. When God said go, Paul was ready. And if he was able to return one day, that would all be determined by the Father. “I will come back if it is God’s will.”

Paul was a missionary. God had redeemed him. He saw the truth about who Jesus was and who he had been. His sins had been forgiven and God loved him, yet he didn’t deserve any of it. He knew he had to share that with the world. Wherever the Father led him, he went. No matter the cost, the resistance, suffering, or danger that might await him.

Why?

Because it was the will of the Father.

Obeying God doesn’t always lead to blessings of fortune and a happy life. But it does lead to rewards – someone hearing for the first time about Jesus and His love for them, another realizing their sin and deciding to surrender their life to Jesus, or someone deciding to return to the Lord after years of running. It’s important to remember that blessings come in all shapes and sizes. The greatest blessing in this life is being in the will of the Father.

Have you ever wondered what that might look like for your life? It simply comes by saying yes when God calls. Let me show you how to get started.

Go to follow.lifeword.org.

Learn more about what it means to walk with Jesus daily as His follower.