Where are you today? What are you doing?  Are you using this ‘shelter in place’ time to be productive or are you becoming frustrated and angry? 

When I was a child, there were games that we played to fill our time.  No computer, No internet. No video games. We were not allowed to watch hours and hours of television. I don’t even remember children’s programming except Saturday morning cartoons. Lassie was the only child-friendly afternoon program I remember.  (Made me want a collie just like Lassie!) In fact, when the evening came, Daddy had control of the only TV in our house and we watched whatever he wanted to watch or found another way to entertain ourselves. Since Daddy always watched the news with Walter Cronkite, outdoor games were usually my choice.  In the summer, I would either add to my rock collection or catch lightning bugs with the neighborhood children and put the bugs in a jar.  Inevitably some of the bugs would end up smashed on the jar in hopes that I would have a ‘glow in the dark’ jar.  It didn’t work for long.  Sometimes, we would play Dodgeball, Red Rover, Gossip, Tug of War, and Freeze Tag. One of my all-time favorites was Follow the Leader.  

In this game, there had to be a leader and a follower.  Often, there were many followers.  The object of the game was for the leader to do things like running, jumping, avoiding obstacles, anything that would keep others mimicking him and doing exactly what he did. The game always started out as a slow walk, then a winding walk or run as more difficulty was added to the trail. Hand signals were added.  Sometimes, the leader tried to do impossible feats just to get the others to mess up. Whenever someone inevitably messed up, they were out of that portion of the game.  Of course, since the leader usually had his/her eyes fixed forward, it was the other followers that ratted out the one who messed up! Sometimes, the leader would turn around and walk backwards, keeping his eyes on the followers, just to be sure that they were doing what they were supposed to do. The last follower, not eliminated, was the winner and then became the leader of the pack for the next portion of the game. This game continued until our moms called us inside for the night. 

Sometimes, as we go our own way, doing our own thing, we forget to play ‘Follow the Leader.’ We don’t ask our heavenly Father for direction and don’t look to Him for guidance. Our leader does not try to get us to mess up and eliminate us from the game.  He does not intentionally make things difficult but does want us to test our following skills so that we can become more like HIM.  Instead of following Him and His example, we start following the followers. We do what they do. We run to the store and grab a few dozen rolls of toilet paper because someone told us that it was back in stock.  We take shopping carts full of hand sanitizer because we might need it, grab all the bleach or cleaning supplies because we don’t know how long this is going to last.  We do everything we can to supply our own needs to the point of hoarding and make excuses as to why we have so much.  We have followed the followers, the crowd who does not even know what they are doing or where they are going!  

When the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, God provided manna for them.  However, he told them to gather enough for the day and not to hoard for tomorrow.  When they disobeyed and tried to store it overnight, the manna was ruined and inedible. The only time that God allowed them to keep the manna overnight was when they were preparing for Sabbath. God CAN and WILL provide for our needs. This frantic attitude should teach us a lot about ourselves. I am not suggesting that you go to the store daily in order to feed your family, nor that we should wait for manna to fall from the sky, but I am suggesting that selfishness is at the root of hoarding! ARE we being selfish, self-centered? Are we willing to share or are we following our Leader, being examples, so to speak, doing what we are supposed to do and be as Christ-followers?

 I Timothy 4:12, (Amplified) says this: “¹² Let no one look down on [you because of] your youth, but be an example and set a pattern for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in [moral] purity.” Is my speech, my conduct, my love, my faith, my purity an example that reflects the attitude and the action that I would see in Christ? 

I Peter 2:21, (Amplified) says, “²¹ For [as a believer] you have been called for this purpose, since Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you may follow in His footsteps.”  I am recognizing that THIS is the time for the church of Jesus Christ to shine. That I have been called to follow His example, His footsteps. 

My much older sister, Linda, once had a pink (I think) Bible that was embossed in gold on the front cover with a figure of Jesus, His footsteps, and a child following in His footsteps. I always loved looking at the cover of that Bible and for some reason, wished that I could be that child. Today, I am. 

As I have been ‘incarcerated,’ ‘sheltered in place,’ or whatever you choose to call it, I have become quite reflective, spending more time praying, waking up odd times in the night to intercede for those in dire need or anyone who comes to mind, asking God to build a hedge of protection around my family and my home.  I have found myself asking for forgiveness for myself, my town and this country.  As time has progressed into this pandemic, I have found myself more and more convinced that this IS a plague, brought about by our sinfulness and headstrong rebellion against the word of God and His example. So, now I pray and ask for forgiveness and follow my leader. 

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