"Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be." John 12:26

The Bible records Jesus calling six of His twelve disciples to Him: Peter, Andrew, James, John, Matthew and Philip. To each of them, He said two simple words: "Follow me." With no idea of where they were going, they left everything to follow Jesus.

In our day, we do not have a physical Jesus to follow because on the day of Pentecost when God poured out His Holy Spirit down from heaven, the resurrected life of Jesus came to indwell every man, woman and child who believes in Him. Jesus is not living in us so that we follow Him, but so that He may live His life in us and through us. Many people are still trying to follow Jesus by adhering to rules, programs and techniques. There is a popular saying, "Do what Jesus would do," and they try their best, but fail again and again. 

We may think it easier to follow a step-by-step program, or have a spiritual GPS of some sort, because we will know what to expect, and have something to measure our progress by. But we will get bored and frustrated, because it will simply become routine. There is nothing routine about Jesus, and God did not intend the Christian life to be routine. The Christian life is to be lived in intimate union with Jesus where we become sensitive to what He is doing and join Him in accomplishing His objectives. Far from being routine, it is an adventurous life, filled with promise.

When on Christ's agenda each new day brings a fresh anticipation of His outworking in our lives. He guides our way, directs our steps, and not just for the long haul, but in our everyday activities. That may take us to the park, the grocery store, the bus stop, a ball game, or at home, church, school or workplace. We do not know where or when, but God will lead us to where He can use us. Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few" (Matthew 9:37). The harvest is all around us, and within the sphere of our everyday lives, we become the vessels God uses to bring that harvest in.

The key to bearing fruit for Jesus is to become so in tune with Him that we recognize opportunity when we see it, and be willing to act. We cannot operate independently of Christ as there is no agenda outside of His that will be fruitful. Jesus is in us, leading the way, and turning the Christian life into a living, dynamic relationship with Him. Keep in step with Jesus by abiding in Him, and He will place us where He wants us to be.