Where You Lead Me, I Will Follow

Recently, I was reading the Bible in the book of 2 Chronicles, Chapter 24. This chapter tells the story of Joash, who became king when he was seven years old. Verse two says “Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.” Did you notice what that verse said? I had never seen it before—Joash did right in the eyes of the Lord while Jehoiada was alive. As I began reading the rest of the story, it talked about how Joash raised money for the restoration of the temple of the Lord where they offered burnt offerings on a regular basis. Then Jehoiada died and Joash began listening to the counsel of the princes of Judah. What really struck me was the fact that as long as the priest, whom Joash admired had been alive, King Joash followed the ways of the Lord. But as soon as the priest died, Joash abandoned his faith and began worshiping other idols and listening to ungodly counsel.

How often have we heard of mighty men of God, famous in the Christian world, who have fallen into sin and their followers abandoned their faith as a result? Many of them stopped attending church and stopped following the ways of God. Their rationale is that Christians are hypocrites so they no longer want to be a part of a church. While that may be true in some cases because no church is perfect, I must ask who were they following? Who was Joash following? If he truly had been following the ways of God with all his heart, instead of a priest, Joash would have remained faithful to the Lord.

God is asking, who are you following? Are you following after a godly leader whom you admire or are you following Jesus? I’m not saying that we shouldn’t honor and admire the leaders that God has placed in our lives. What I feel God showed me through this story was that our faith must be grounded in the Word and in our personal relationship with Him, not based on our pastor or other godly Christians. If we are following after men, our faith can be shaken at any point because no man is perfect.

I know in my own life, I had many godly leaders who not only let me down, but betrayed my trust. When I was a child, they did not come to my rescue and looked the other way when they became aware of the abuse that was happening to me at home. It could have been so easy and justifiable for me to walk away from my faith, the church, and my relationship with God. But my faith wasn’t built on a foundation of men, it was built on the Word and my daily relationship with God. I knew He would never leave me or forsake me. I was secure in my identity as a daughter of the King. God wants your faith and walk with Him to be strong. Build your foundation on the Rock and not on someone else’s relationship with God. Let it be said of you that you followed after God with your whole heart all the days of your life.

Luke 6:46-49 (ESV)

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”