Livin Lively

By Peggy Lively

            I spend a lot of my time in the car running errands and driving carpools. And I have begun to notice the abundance of bumper stickers and decals on the back of cars. It is amazing to me the amount information you can gather about people from reading the back of their cars. Here are some of the things I’ve learned recently: how many members are in their family and all their names, the number of pets they have, what type of pets, where they go to church, where they went to college, their political preference, where their kids go to school and what sports they are involved in, and if their kids were all stars or world champs. The list goes on and on.

I began thinking about all these things and how interesting it is what we want other people to know about us, the information we choose to post about ourselves on the back of our cars. So I started contemplating if I could share just one message about my life with others, what would it be? On a deeper level, if my life purpose could be summed up in a bumper sticker, what would it say?

Surprisingly, something quickly came to mind. It was, “Follow me as I follow Him.” This comes from I Corinthians 11:1 when Paul is speaking to the Corinthians and telling them, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (NIV) Paul has always amazed me with his spiritual confidence, but this doesn’t mean he was perfect. In fact, Paul was quick to acknowledge his weaknesses and proclaim that it was Christ’s power working through his weaknesses that made him strong. (II Corinthians 12:9-10)

Being directionally challenged, I’ve always been hesitant to tell anyone to follow me. But in a spiritual sense, if I am following Christ then I can have full confidence in where He is leading me. As we follow Him, He commissions us to make more followers of Him and to teach them His truth: ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All power in heaven and on earth is given to me. ¹⁹ So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you, and I will be with you always, even until the end of this age.”  Matthew 28:18-20 (New Century Version, NCV)

 As we go and make disciples, or followers of Christ, we can have confidence in the authority that He has given us, just as he gave to His disciples:

“Their doubts were quickly dispelled, for Jesus spoke to them claiming all authority in heaven and on earth. This authority (exousia, “official right or power”) had been given to Jesus by the Father and now He was instructing the disciples to go on the basis of that authority. Their field was to include all nations, not just Israel. They were to make disciples by proclaiming the truth concerning Jesus. Their hearers were to be evangelized and enlisted as Jesus’ followers.”^[1]

          That is what I want to do with my life: I want to follow closely in my Savior’s footsteps, proclaim the truth about Him, and as a result inspire others to follow Him as well. Will you join me?