“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

― A.W. Tozer

As I sit here writing this blog, which I always have the most fun doing, by the way, I put out a story on my Instagram asking people what they wanted me to try to dig into… And as I read through the responses I honestly resonated with every answer. Jealousy, fear, singleness, friendships, purity, surrender, joy, repentance, confidence, rest, forgiveness, purpose. All subjects I would love to write about but I wanted to try to address the root of these issues. Why are we jealous, insecure, fearful? Why do we lack purpose and meaning in our lives? Because at some point, we have believed a lie about God. The truth has been twisted and I have taken it and ran. And when we run with any almost truth about God, we see the fruit. The jealousy, the anger, the worry, they all pop up and our spiritual lives can look like a game of whack-a-mole. But how is it that we fight the lies? How do we step into freedom in these areas of our lives…

We absolutely MUST decide to be a generation that not only remembers who God is but gets to know him for ourselves.

Have you ever had something you MUST do? We never really use that word anymore, do we? I mean really, think about it, when is the last time someone said I must go to the bathroom – I must go do my laundry? I can’t name a single time… I don’t even say it myself! Instead, we say, “I have to..” Like if we have to do something – it is some huge chore. How about on a real note, what is your attitude towards seeking God? Do you feel like you have to read your Bible, you have to go to church, you have to pray?? OR MUST YOU?

 In regards to doing an activity “have” is defined as being obliged to do (something), while “must” is defined by expressing insistence.

    Must does not entail feeling like it. Must does not entail perfection. Must is a decision.

Have you ever wondered why “I HAVE DECIDED” is often printed on the t-shirts we wear when we get baptized? I did… and as I found myself asking the Holy Spirit, why does it say I have decided? Of all the words, why those? This is what I heard… You have decided because I DECIDED.

There would have been no decision to be made on my end if Jesus had not decided. Decided to get on the cross for me. Decided to carry my sin, decided to die for me, decided to rise for my new life found only in the freedom of His blood! He did not have to, He decided that he MUST. And because He decided, I got to decide.

Matthew 16:21 

“From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

Luke 13:31-33

“At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.” He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ 33 In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!”

What a gift! Thank you, Jesus! So why MUST I change my “have to’s” into MUST’S? Because His “MUST” saved my life – Quite literally! And when I really realize that, my relationship with God goes from a have to, to a GET to, from a “chore” to an HONOR!

So, where does knowing the truth and must cross paths? When we take a serious look at Jesus and decide this is the man that we MUST really get to know when we decide that we can no longer be indifferent to the things of God. When our very hearts and minds change from “have to’s” with God to MUST’S. So that we might really know our Father, so that the truth might sink deep into us, that we might live free from sin in the abundance of who God is, by His grace and His mercy. There is nothing to earn here, Jesus has already paid the price in full, the inheritance is ready, but we must walk into it.

I picture it like this, imagine the first explorer the day they discovered America. They didn’t know it existed, but it was always there. Regardless of what they did, they couldn’t change how much of America there was. It existed and was exactly what it was whether they explored it or not. Let’s imagine God like this for a moment. We crash into the shores of who He is, we believe Him, we accept Him, we are saved from the roaring oceans in this scenario that represent sin and death and hell. You’re safe, but there’s so much more. He is exactly who He is whether we ever know Him truly or not. You do not have to move forward in this journey that is promised to be uncomfortable, but you can decide if you must. Must is absolutely a choice, God would never force us to discover who He really is any more than he would force us to believe in Him.

But I believe this is the time, we are the generation that MUST MUST MUST, decide to discover Jesus. We must know the truth, we must read our Bibles, we must go to church, we must pray. Not out of works, but out of God’s grace… We must decide that half-truths and half-committed hearts are not good enough for us. We want to be secure, confident, passionate, fully alive? We want all of who God is. Then we must let Jesus show us who He really is. How He feels about us. How he sees us. We must be washed in the Father’s love for us. Not at all because we have to, but simply because we must.

I recently did a poll on my Instagram asking people what initially came to their mind when I said the word “Following,” the results really weren’t shocking as most people answered with either; following Jesus or following someone on Instagram. Both of these come to my mind as well – but throughout all of the answers, there were more than a few people who said the childhood game follow the leader is what popped into their heads. And man, did I love that… because wow, how simple!

Sometimes I wonder if we make following Jesus more complicated than it ought to be. Not harder, because we all know this thing of dying to self was never intended to be easy… but just more complicated. Why does following Jesus feel so confusing at times – this career or that career, this school or that school, this guy or that guy… our heads can spin, and we can freak out just thinking about these examples. But as I really think about it, freaking out over trying to follow Jesus is not following him at all.

Earlier this week, my friend followed me to a gas station, and the picture of what it looked like to follow was just so kindly clear to me at that moment. I was leading her, she was following me, and this is what the process looked like. I turned left, she turned left, I merged three lanes, she merged three lanes, I stopped, she stopped, I went, she went. No questions asked, no calls asking if I was sure I knew where I was going, no frustration in the process and never did she question if where we were going really did have what she needed, she wasn’t worried, she didn’t need a map drawn out to our final destination, she trusted me to lead her there.

What if our following Jesus looked a more like FOLLOWING JESUS? What if just for a moment we set aside our five-year plans, our expectations of where we should have been by now or where we will be by then, what if we paused for a moment to realize that not all choices are the end of the world, but actually opportunities from our loving Dad to pick what we like… sometimes there’s not a bad choice; there is just a choice.

What if every day I woke up and said, I TRUST YOU, GOD! I trust you! I follow you!

Let’s simplify it back down to the child’s game we mentioned earlier – follow the leader! This way, that way, over here, over there… It’s unpredictable, but when you stop trying to predict everything, it is actually a pretty fun game! And let be the first to say following Jesus CAN be fun too! Nonetheless, hear me here, not easy, NOT EASY, but most definitely fun! I truly cannot think of a more exciting adventure of a life than step by step following Jesus!!!

But here’s the kicker, here’s THE question, here’s your BIGGEST choice… who is your leader, who are you following? Is it you, is it your desires, your ambitions, your feelings? Or is it God… that’s the decision that dictates your forever – and dictates your “for now.” Because you can’t follow two things!

As I write this, my eyes are filled with tears because man do I remember when I was my own leader how lost, how desperate – how dark my life and my heart and my mind were. But my God rescued me! He saved me from me! To know the light of the world literally is LIFE!

I don’t say this as a line or a catching saying but with fire in my heart knowing for sure that someone reading this is who I used to be; there’s no shame here – there’s nothing God can’t redeem, there’s no too far gone, there is no unforgivable when you are washed in the blood of Jesus! Oh son, Oh, daughter, if you only knew how loved you are! Jesus, the perfect son of God, came on a rescue mission just for you beloved, for YOU. He died for you, He rose for you! He wants your heart – for it was made just for Him. Today is THE day to decide to follow Jesus! Today is the day to let Jesus make it right between you and God, I say it again today is the day to let Jesus make it right between you and God! We cannot lead ourselves, we cannot save ourselves! How could we?! We did not even make ourselves!