Follow Me!

Ephesians 5:1
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

A few years ago I went to the place of my birth, Fort Benning, GA. I was born in Martin Army Hospital on the base of Ft. Benning. I was just curious about my beginning I suppose. As we toured the Army base and local town, one of the stops that I wanted to make was at the infantry museum. My dad was an infantry man and I had heard great things about the museum.

When we arrived I saw this huge statue. It was labeled, "Follow Me." I looked at this bronze statue for a moment and tried to think about it being a real soldier. You know what? After reading more and more... Major Eugene Wyles was his name. He is the one who posed for the statue but has always maintained that it was not him, but the infantry men and their spirit.

This statue was a soldier waving his comrades forward with a rifle in his hand. On his face was an expression of urgency to move forward. "Follow Me!" you could almost hear him say. Oh, the men that took in this statue and followed the one in front of him. With every step, knowing that their leader would not lead them astray. Knowing that their leader was in the front taking them to the battle lines of war. Never alone, never left to fight by themselves, always someone there to fight along side of and definitely never, and I mean never leaving anyone behind. Can you hear him? "Forward men! Victory is just ahead... FOLLOW ME!" (Thank you to every one of you reading this who have followed and currently follow. I pray for you often and my family and myself are grateful.)

Today, right now, I'm asking you to follow Jesus! With all the urgency I can muster up, I'm pleading with you to follow Jesus. While I have no doubt that the men who were encouraged to follow this soldier gave everything they had, some even their lives, Jesus must be and has to be the perfect man to follow. Jesus is the only one that I know whose leading has never failed.

Before you decide this morning please understand one thing. Just as the steps of this soldier were not easy or rosey, to follow Christ doesn't mean that it will be easy or everything gravy so to say. The Christian life is a difficult one. Just as the struggle for all the soldiers who followed this man into battle, so it is with the Child of God who follows Jesus. But as promised by Him, He will be there every step of the way. As one Army leader said, "I'll be the first one on the battlefield and the last one off." Christ has said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee... I am with thee always, even unto the end."

FOLLOW ME!