Nothing in the world is more fun than following Jesus. He does the coolest stuff, and when you follow Him, you get to participate in it. When I say “following Jesus,” understand that I don’t mean He’s standing outside of you in some spiritual way, leading you around. Instead, I’m talking about following the One who is literally in union with you. Jesus lives inside of us as Christians, and therefore, following Him is simply responding in childlike trust and joyful obedience to His interior promptings. I’m talking about surrendering to His voice and leanings. Jesus said in John 14 that He went to the cross to prepare a place for us in Him so that where He is at all times, we will be also. Following Jesus results in an amazing flow of life and wonder, for every time we say yes to Him, we get to experience more of Him.
The other day, I was standing in line to order some food to go, and there were two ladies in line before me, and they were taking a long time to order their sandwiches. They were having a lot of interaction with the person working at the restaurant who was behind the counter waiting to take the order, and they were discussing among each other about the different coupons they had which would save them some money. On an interior level, I was beginning to operate independently from Jesus, for in my heart, I was beginning to complain, out of impatience, about how long these ladies were taking (Jesus never complains, and He never gets impatient). In the midst of that dynamic taking place in me, Jesus clearly spoke in me, “Why don’t we pay for their food.” Almost instantaneously after hearing Jesus speak in me, one of the ladies invited me to come stand next to her and place my order. When I took my place beside her, Jesus spoke again,” Let’s pay for their food.” By this time, His voice had adjusted my heart already, and once again, I was abiding in the flow of the river of His life. His joy was making my joy full, and I voiced to the ladies that I would be honored if they would please allow me to pay for their food. I told them I was a pastor (it was clear in my heart that Jesus wanted me to tell them that for whatever reason). It was so fun because they were blown away (I think the whole coupon thing was because paying for their food was a stretch for them), and they joyfully accepted my offer. Immediately, the oldest lady said to the younger woman, “I told you there were still some godly people in this world.” She then repeated her statement, and I knew that they had recently been having that discussion and that in that restaurant, simply because I followed Jesus, they had an encounter with Him. Being in the river of His life being carried along is so much fun because, according Ezekiel 47, there will be perpetual fruit-bearing and the grace of all kind of healings (healings on the inside and outside) manifested wherever the river goes. Every time you give more to Him (and joyful childlike surrender), you get to take more of Him (in your experience). Wow!!! How fun it is to follow Jesus. By the way, by the time I got out into the parking lot with my food, I heard somebody speaking to me from a distance, and I turned and realized it was the two ladies sitting in their car eating their sandwiches. I went over to the window and was able to introduce myself to them, and they asked me where I went to church because they wanted to come.