There was a farmer who decided to test his sheep to see if they really were as dumb as people said they were. In order to accomplish this experiment he found a pole the length of the opening to the pen where they were kept at night.
That evening at feeding time he and his farmhand held the pole low enough for them to jump over but high enough to obstruct their way. When the pole was across the front of the gate, his son herded the sheep toward the pen. The first sheep jumped over the pole, the second sheep jumped the pole, the third and so on until the farmer withdrew the pole.
Then the rest of the sheep… even without the obstruction, kept jumping where there had been a pole, only because they were following the lead of the sheep in front of them.
So I have to ask myself, am I a follower? Or am I willing to allow God to direct me on a different path, other than the one the world would deem to be the acceptable choice?
I think most people would agree that it’s so much easier to follow the beaten path than the road less traveled. But Jesus promised that if we choose to follow in His footsteps we will be in the minority; some may even oppose us. The kind of opposition that will test the very fabric of our beliefs; especially when ridicule comes from the very people we love most.
But in spite of that, today I choose the road against the expected flow, because I don’t want to fall into line with what the world is offering; wealth, lust, earthly treasure, prestige, etc. Today I choose the road less traveled because on it I will find my God. And my God is a personal God. My God speaks. My God laughs with me; never at me. My God cries with me and for me. My God loves me and accepts me right where I am standing.
If you have never experienced what it means to know Jesus, if you are standing in line as a follower of worldly values, are you willing to be out of line in order to know what it means to really live?
12/6/2015
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