Devotional #20 If none go with me

“If none go with me, still I’ll follow.” Our faith has to be founded on God, not on other people. A lot of times you hear of a pastor falling away from the Lord, and then much of the congregation falls away. It’s very sad when someone in the public eye (who is a minister of the Gospel) is not living the gospel. Their sin is revealed. Their hypocrisy exposed. Maybe Satan slowly tempted them into a slippery slope. We pray one day they come out of the darkness they’re stuck in because God is the God of redemption. When these role models of ours fall away from the Lord, it is a great way to test and see if our faith is in a person or in Jesus Christ. Did we take an oath to follow a pastor, a parent, a role model, or did we pledge to follow Jesus? If it’s the latter, then our faith should not be shaken no matter who falls away from the Lord. We will grieve, yes. We will experience shock, horror, and sadness. But we won’t think about turning away from the Lord because our relationship with God is between us and Him, it’s not between us, our pastor, and Christ. There is no middle man or mediator between us and Christ. If we discover in our hearts that there has been, then it’s a chance, a fresh opportunity to found your faith on the Lord Jesus Christ and no one else. I heard a story recently about a couple who were led to the Lord by their best friends. After some time passed their best friends started to fall away from sound Biblical teaching and started following a cult. The couple was considering following their friends into this new teaching. But when they realized it was not biblical, they decided to follow Jesus Christ- not their friends. This is a tricky predicament. When the people who led you to Christ, or people who are your role models, start turning to other teachings, we have to make a choice. Jesus or them? If every believer you know falls away from the Lord, will you? If none go with you, will you still follow? Jesus can use anyone to help lead us to Him. Even if they later fall away, God still used them as a tool to help our eyes open and see Him. For that we can be grateful. We choose to trust God with their salvation. Let us pray that their eyes are opened and they come back to the Lord. But whatever they decide, we choose to follow Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” 2 Corinthians 11:13-16 “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.”