Crystal Writes A Blog

Keep Following the Leader

Follow the Leader by Flickr User Blair Gannon, CC License = Attribution
Click image to open a new tab/window to view the original image and to access the user’s full photo stream at Flickr.

Do you remember our childhood games of “Follow the Leader”? I have a vague memory of them, and it seems to me that it was all about trying to keep an eye on the leader in case he or she did something unexpected. It was sort of like playing “Simon Says” only with a “Simon Does” routine that could throw you off if you blinked. The best followers were those that paid perfect attention and stayed in perfect step. I was just klutzy enough to make that difficult.

In today’s reading from Deuteronomy 31:4 through Deuteronomy 31:6, we have another short reading, so I’ll paste the text directly here…

Adonai will do to them what he did to Sichon and ‘Og, the kings of the Emori, and to their land — he destroyed them. Adonai will defeat them ahead of you, and you are to do to them just as I have ordered you to do. Be strong, be bold, don’t be afraid or frightened of them, for Adonai your God is going with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.

Unlike our childhood games, God as a leader makes it clear to Israel exactly what He is going to do and what He expects them to do. There’s no sudden trickery or twists to try and throw them off. There’s no effort to trip them up. God only has their victory in mind. He knows they are not strong enough to battle the enemies and take the land of promise on their own, so He leads them in both direction and battle. He guarantees them a win if they will only follow Him, and He guarantees that He will be with them to the very end.

God knows our form as well. He has promised that He will never leave or forsake us. He knows we cannot fight our enemies on our own, so He promises to go before us and to fight the battle ahead of us. He gives us His armor, and He strengthens us with His strength. And, above all else that we have, we are equipped with His love to lead and guide us in every aspect of life. Just in case you wonder if love is all you need, here are some things love does (from 1 Corinthians 13:4-7)…

• Love is patient and kind,
• not jealous, not boastful,
• not proud, rude or selfish,
• not easily angered,
• and it keeps no record of wrongs.
• Love does not gloat over other people’s sins
• but takes its delight in the truth.
• Love always bears up,
• always trusts,
• always hopes,
• always endures.

And, from the beginning of verse 8 in a few different versions, we get Love never fails. We know that God is love, and He has said over and over again that He will never fail us, so we can put His name in front of each item above. We can know that He will be a leader in all these things even as He asks us to follow Him. God is patient and kind. God is not jealous, boastful, proud, rude, selfish or easily angered. God keeps no record of wrongs. God does not gloat over people’s sins, but He takes delight in truth. God always bears up, always trusts, always hopes, always endures, and…God never fails!

And because God will keep being God no matter what, we know that we can keep following The Leader forever.

September 14, 2014 Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) | Bible Study, Nonfiction, Torah Commentary | 1 Corinthians 13, Bible Commentary, Bible study, childhood games, Complete Jewish Bible, Deuteronomy, Follow the Leader, God never fails, Israel, Love Never Fails, Scripture, Torah commentary, Torah Portions | Leave a comment