“So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins” (Luke 6:46-49 NLT).

Throughout my journey of faith with Jesus, these words have repeatedly come up. I am more and more convicted these days of the fact that I spend more time studying the Way of Jesus, rather than actually following after Him. Now, don’t get me wrong, I believe there is a place for “listening to Jesus’ teaching,” but as the rest of the verse says, we need to “follow them.” Jesus specifically tells us to follow Him, rather than to just listen or study Him. I myself have been guilty of overemphasizing the studying of God’s Word, rather than empowering people to actually do what His Word says: Learning about the Way of Jesus is far different than actually walking His Way.

Again, when I am not intentionally following Jesus’ Way, then I confronted with the question: “Who’s way am I following?” If I’m honest then I’d have to say the way of my parents or friends, celebrities, culture, the world at large, even my own way (which is probably the biggest culprit). The way we live does reflect what we believe. Certain rules and standards or lack of them guide us throughout our days. The daily decisions we make are influenced by the barometer within our hearts, the inner compass that guides us through life. I believe the only way to really get the things that we learn from our heads and into our hearts is to put them into practice. Jesus knows this, that’s why all through the Gospels we read about Jesus telling people “follow Me.”

You see, we can learn and learn and learn, but until our learning takes action all we have is a bunch of learned theory floating around in our heads. It’s when we begin to do what we’ve learned that this learning starts to become a part of us (begins to sink into our hearts) and the more we do what we’ve learned the more it becomes part of our nature. Who’s way are you following?