Following the Leaders

If you follow the actions of men of faith you won’t end up where they did. If you follow the faith that prompted those actions you will take a different path but arrive at the same destination.

Those we regard as great men of faith did not live by copying the lives and decisions of other men of faith. Neither can I be a great man of faith by copying their lives and decisions.

The key to a notable life of faith like theirs is to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance by faith as they did. By living this way your notable life of faith will look different from theirs as theirs looks different from those of faith who went before.

Those who try to copy what men of faith did build religions/denominations around “doing and not doing” that lack the life the man of faith knew. Because the life giving ingredient to what he did was not – step one, step two, step three – it was, “Lord what do you want ME to do.”

Look at Hebrews 11. It does not say, “by faith Abraham built an ark, by faith Isaac built an ark, by faith Jacob built an ark, by faith Moses built an ark,” but “let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” (not the race that was set before them)

Look at Romans 14. v3-4 “Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls…” Follow your master, not his other servants.

1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul echos this: “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ”. Paul’s ministry certainly looked different from the other Apostles. Why? Because like them he obeyed Christ by faith.

How did Jesus live? He was led by the Spirit (Luke 4:1,14,18) and did whatever the Father gave him to do. (Luke 4:43, John 4:34, 10:18, 5:19, 12:49)