Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Matthew 16:24

Childhood games of “follow the leader” provided silly ways to pass the time—but as the children of God we find that follow the leader is not a mere game at all, but a delightfully intimate discipline. Though the stakes are much higher, the “rules” for following Jesus are pretty much the same, as this passage from Andrew Murray illustrates.


His followers must walk in the very path in which He walks. Jesus came and was made like us—we must come and be made like Him. His suffering death is not only substitution and atonement for us. (It is that, thank God! But it is much more.) His death calls to fellowship and conformity. The substitution rests on our identification in Him, and out of that conformity has its growth and strength. The Lamb of God has no salvation nor perfection to give us but His own meek spirit of entire dependence and absolute submission to God. The meekness and humility that was needful for God to perfect in Him are as needful for us. We must suffer and be crucified and die with Him. Death to self and the world, at the cost of any suffering or self-denial, is the only path to glory the Leader of our salvation has opened up to us.

Be encouraged today, by the words of our glorious Leader: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:27,28). Jesus, lead on!

Leviticus 16; Psalms 19;
Proverbs 30; 1 Timothy 1

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon