Martha Olawale

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said…” Matthew 4:19a

The GPS has revolutionized how we drive. For someone like my husband, it is one of the greatest inventions of all time. Gone are the days when we must use a two-page map or follow a penned list of roads for us to get to places. Using a phone connected to the internet, we are directed in real-time to places we’ve never been before with ease and navigate confidently.

Sometimes we need alternatives to using our phones for direction because, without the internet, we’ll lose the connection. To be safe, if you’re driving through roads that have limited internet services, you might want to have an actual GPS system that works regardless of the internet. There are also limitations to trusting either a phone or an actual GPS because, for any of them to work, the device must be charged so you don’t run the risk of losing your guide.

When Jesus told Peter and Andrew to follow Him in Matthew 4, He didn’t expect them to have alternatives. It was a simple command that started an amazing relationship between them and Christ. They might have been contented with their lives as fishermen and did not expect Jesus to step into their situation the way He did. However, when Jesus came into the picture, they had to leave their comfort zone to trust Him.

Following Christ does not leave us with alternatives because we don’t need any. He is enough light for us to walk through the darkest alleys of life and has enough strength to move the heaviest mountains we face. Jesus always gets it right because He is the “Truth” personified. He knows every turn and every crack in our journey, and with Him, our burden is light.

There are so many things calling for our attention and it’s okay to trust the good people in our life. But no matter how well we trust them, we are called to follow Christ, not our heart, the crowd, or our beloved pastors. Christ alone gets it right a hundred percent of the time and we need to weigh everything with Him. Like the GPS systems, our hearts and other people in our life can run out of batteries and might route us wrong but when we follow Jesus, He’ll lead us right.