Rev. Matt Kinley

“Follow me.” These two words come to us from John chapter one in verse 43. Jesus is calling Phillip to become a follower of Him.

In the context of life changing messages these two words are the most significant words that Phillip will hear in the entirety of his life. For us today, much like Phillip, the message we hear constantly in our ears is “follow me.”

Phillip heard these two words from the One, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, we hear these two words from very different sources in our world today.

We hear it on television and on Twitter and on Facebook. We hear it from celebrities and athletes, musicians and even pastors — “follow me” they say. “Follow my style, follow my life, follow my ways of living,” they say.

It can seem harmless at first to be pulled into the celebrity culture of our day — and the internet has made the rich and the famous accessible to anyone and everyone with just a click of a button. This access has opened a door to our hearts that is not easily guarded or closed. We allow the celebrities into our hearts not because we value them so greatly that we would let them rule our lives, but because we are constantly exposed to them and at some point — before we realized it — we find their lifestyle becomes the guiding force of our lives.

Anyone with children can tell you how pervasive this “follow me” culture has become in this world.

This culture of our world should spur each of us to ask ourselves a simple and honest question, “who do I follow?”

The surrender of Phillip is immediate and powerful! Phillip hears the words of Jesus and follows; it is that simple and that life changing.

We make the Gospel Message a thing of complicated words, words spoken eloquently and perfectly. But Jesus changes everything about Phillip’s life and our life with just two words, “Follow Me.” When we share the Word of the Lord we can make a difference with simply two words, “Follow Him.”

May each of us have the courage to speak two words to the people we meet today, may we see the power of the Lord to change everything and everyone with two words! If you do not know Him, He is calling to you today just as He did to Phillip.

“Follow me.” He says it with love, grace, and truth. Hear Him today!

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Finding Faith is written by area pastors. This week’s column comes from Pastor Matt Kinley of First Church of Christ, Lock Haven.