In this world today, it seems that everyone is following after something. The young man to gain wealth, the old man to gain youth, and all to gain things that they do not possess. We are taught from an early age that if we want something bad enough all we have to do is work towards it; to in fact "Follow after our dreams." Yet, for many of us this takes a dominate role in anything we do. We cannot just follow after something and keep it in perspective; rather we begin to put all of our time and effort into accomplishing our goal. It just seems to be human nature, to (at times) selfishly follow after what "we" want. We start seeking it with our whole heart; giving it all of our time, and never really taking the time to set our priorities in order once again.
However, there is a time when this nature become an advantage, a time when it is good to follow after something with every fiber of our body. To in essence, give ourselves so wholly to it until we are consumed by it. What is this most worthy of goals? What could be so important that we should place it before family, friends, and even before our very lives? The answer can be summed in one word: "God"! In all actuality, this really isn't even an option for a Christian. It is our duty, our destiny in this life. We were created to desire to be with God continually; every second of every minute of every day. There should never be a time that we don't ask ourselves: "Is this interfering with my walk with God?" or "Am I setting this ahead of God?" You see, we don't have to construct statues or build temples to create a god to serve. We can build one in our minds. Every one always quotes the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3), but the second commandment often gets forgotten: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:" (vs. 4). We see here that we are not to "make" unto us any false gods. It doesn't take much to make a god. All we have to do is start following after something with everything we have. For some it might be money, for another sports, and for someone else it could be just living a simple life. It doesn't just have to be with our lives, but with things, cars, houses, anything that we want or desire more than we desire God. It then, becomes our god: the thing to which we give our allegiance and homage.
So then, this is the sum of the matter: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment . . . Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace . . . and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life . . ." (Mat. 22:37,38, Rom. 14:19, I Tim. 6:11). |
