To follow someone is a very common human act. For some, it means to walk in the footsteps of another. For others, it means to imitate the life style or actions of people. In both cases, the follower places their trust, possibly their future existence in another person’s hands. Often little thought is given to the consequences of following, it just happens.
Obviously there can be both positive and negative results involved with following another. Jesus invites us to follow him. We can accept or reject His invitation. What are the consequences of following the Lord? Like His own life, our existence as a disciple will have some really great experiences but we will also experience challenges and even failure in our efforts. Without His help we won’t make much progress in really imitating His life.
Our spiritual life is a very important part of this following of Jesus. Prayer, works of charity and works of penance are part of spiritual living which is associated with following Christ. As adults and particularly as parents we are responsible for assisting our youngsters in their efforts to follow Christ. We must seriously undertake cultivating our own spiritual growth in order to effectively influence others in this regard. In doing this we seriously embrace Christ’s plan for His followers and accept His invitation, “Come, follow Me!”
