Following Too Closely



Are you following too closely?

     Horses on the trail like to follow each other very closely. They are prey animals and prey animals stick together in herds for safety.  The closer they stay to the horses around them the safer they feel. It doesn't matter how close your horse is to the horse in front of them, if the horse behind them gets too close they will let them know. Maybe just a jump or spook but some horses get really annoyed and will kick out. Following too closely could get a horse a nice hoof print on their nose.
    We have a tendency to do the same thing
 although our fear of getting eaten alive is only a metaphor. We flock together in herds of like-minded individuals. We can speak our mind and have others agree with us instead of putting us down. It's safer that way. We can be edified with opinions that agree with our own. In your walk with Chrsit, you may be doing the same thing. Maybe you haven't packed up and left your church for another one because you didn't agree with the sermon but you may have sought someone else out that also disagreed with the teaching backing up your disagreements.
    Sometimes we find a preacher or teacher we like and we put them on a pedastal. We attempt to follow every word that comes out of that pulpit or from our group leader. We take to heart everything they say without discernment. This can be a problem even with the most diligent teachers of the word because our teachers are only human. We can easily find ourselves following too closely to our teacher's ideas and drifting farther and farther from our saviour.
    Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the Light which is Life." John 8:12
    It's great to find good teachers of God's word but it is important not follow them too closely. We need to be in God's word, letting the Spirit of Truth confirm everything we've been taught. Following humans too closely can get us a big kick in the nose. Just as a rider will teach his horse not to follow closely by asking the horse to serpentine on and off the trail, we need to step away from the crowd and examine our relationship with Christ. We need to establish that we are truly following Christ, confident in the Truth and Wisdom that God, not man, is putting in our hearts.