"Why Do You Follow?"

"Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." John 6:68 

"From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him." (verse 66) Many who had followed Jesus were now, because of the word He had spoken to them, turning away from Him and not walking with Him anymore. This same thing is happening today. There are those who have walked with Jesus and followed His teachings but have now turned from following Him. They stopped following for various reasons. Some have stopped because He didn't answer a prayer in the way they wanted Him to. Some have turned from Him because they feel that He let them down. Others found themselves in a situation-- the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, a divorce, a sickness or some other adversity-- and blamed the Lord for it, so they turned away from Him. 

 

The same people who were now turning from Jesus in the verses above had turned to Him to begin with because of what they saw Him doing. They had heard of His fame, they had seen His miracles, many of them had been healed themselves by His power. They followed Him because of His acceptance of the outcast and downcast. They flocked to Him because the religious leaders didn't have what they needed, the government couldn't provide what they lacked, there was no other place than with Jesus where they could get their needs met and feel the loving grace they felt from Him. 

 

The question then becomes, "Why were they following Him in the first place?" Some followed because of the miracles that He did. In other words, they followed because of what He was doing and what they could get from Him. When you follow for the wrong, or a selfish, self-centered reason, when the following becomes hard, when it leads you into a place you had not planned on going, when it puts a demand or condition on you, if you aren't following for the right reason, then you will turn from following.

 

Now the question today is, "Why are you following Him?". What is your motive behind following Jesus? Is your reason enough that it will keep you following Him even when times get hard, even when persecution comes, even when things don't go as planned, or even if the journey gets painful?

 

Have a great day.   Why are you following Jesus?

 

For further reading:

John 6:2, 64-69