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“And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:18–19).

Have you ever played “Follow the Leader”? It’s fun to be the leader and have people do as you are doing. But the words follow me can get you into trouble if you don’t know exactly what the leader wants you to do. Sometimes we want to “follow” others to be liked and not feel left out. When you follow, it means you go along with; you keep your mind on; you obey, accompany, and take as a guide. So when you follow someone, you had better know everything about that person and what that person is trying to do.

Satan tempts Christians any way he can. He especially tempts us to “follow” those who appear to have all the fun or are popular, but aren’t living lives that are pleasing to God. First Peter 5:8 warns us to “be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Ephesians 6:11 tells us how to protect ourselves; we must “put on the whole armour of God” so we can “stand against the wiles [“tricks”] of the devil.”

Jesus wants us to follow Him, watch out for the Devil, and wear the armor God has given us.

My response:
» Will I think about God and the Bible throughout the day?
» Will I choose to follow what I know about Jesus?

“God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is LORD of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshiped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things” (Acts 17:24–25).

Have you ever noticed how a baby depends on grownups for almost everything? Babies can’t feed themselves. They can’t change their own diapers. They can’t dress themselves or bathe themselves or walk—at least not for about a year after birth. If a kidnapper sneaked into a baby’s bedroom or the house caught on fire, the baby would be helpless against the danger. About all babies can do is sleep, eat, cry, and make messes! Without moms and dads to meet their needs, babies would die.

Growing kids need parents to take care of them too. Even adults need help obtaining food and clothes—they need other adults to run grocery stores and clothing shops. For our entire lives, we are dependent on other people. For our entire lives, we are also dependent on God to give us “life, and breath, and all things.” Without Him, we could not exist for a single second.

God is totally different. He needs nothing and nobody in order to keep existing as the “LORD of heaven and earth.” He “made the world and all things therein”—nobody made Him! He doesn’t need people to build Him a house to live in. He doesn’t need anything from any of us, because He already owns it all. Even if every human being died in a worldwide disaster, God would still exist the same as He always has.

So if God doesn’t need us, then why did He create us? Was He lonely, so He made us to be His friends? Was He bored, so He created us to entertain Himself? No! God created us not because He needed us to meet His needs, but because He knew we could bring glory to Him.

We humans bring glory to God when we obey and honor Him. Not all humans do that, and the ones who don’t bring Him glory often find life miserable. But humans who do honor God and live according to His Word find that He completely meets their needs for “life, and breath, and all things.” He satisfies them with total, eternal joy—because they are doing what He created them to do: bring glory to Himself.

God is the only being who exists totally on his own.

My response:
» Do I live like I’m on my own, or do I remember that everything I am and have is a gift from God?

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9).

God has made some people to be picky about being clean and neat. Other people don’t mind piles of things around them, or wrinkly clothes. Whether you happen to be picky or not, you have probably walked into a room where someone has just finished cleaning. You have probably smelled bleach or another strong chemical that has made your nose sting. You also wash your hands with soap many times every day. Cleaners are an important part of life.

Cleaners are necessary on the inside of a person as well as on the outside. The Bible says a person can keep the inside of his mind (thoughts) and heart (wishes) clean by knowing God’s Word and doing what it says. God’s Word is a cleaner! Our thoughts and wishes are wrong many times a day. A person living to please God will replace these wrong thoughts and wishes with the Word of God again and again, just as he washes his hands over and over.

Take time at the beginning of every day to load up a new supply of God’s cleaner by reading and memorizing God’s Word.

My response:
» What part of God’s Word will I read, memorize, or review today?
» How can I keep my inside full of God’s Word, the “cleaner” I need for my mind and heart?
» How good am I at replacing wrong thoughts and wishes with clean ones from God’s Word?

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

“Kevin, grab the butter and eggs from the refrigerator, please. And Cara Ann, see if there’s more sugar in the pantry,” instructed Mom as she checked over the recipe. Kevin and Cara Ann were helping their mom make a special treat: a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for Dad’s birthday.

As they finished gathering the necessary ingredients, Mom got out the baking chocolate. “Yummmm!” said Kevin as he watched her set the large, thick bar on the counter.

“Can we have a little bit of that?” asked Cara Ann, her mouth already watering.

“That’s not such a good idea,” Mom replied. “This kind of chocolate doesn’t taste good at all. It’s called bittersweet chocolate. I don’t think you’ll like it.”

But Kevin and Cara Ann pleaded, “Pleeeeeease! Just a teeny bit!” Mom consented and gave them each a sliver of the chocolate bar. “Yuck! Disgusting!” they both said as they started spitting the chocolate into the trash can.

“You were right, Mom,” said Kevin. “That’s awful.”

“But it’s so good in the birthday cake,” pointed out Cara Ann. “Why does it taste so bad by itself?”

Both Cara Ann and Kevin listened as Mom explained that the bittersweet baking chocolate needed the other ingredients in the cake, like the sugar and butter, to make it tasty. Until it was all mixed together, the chocolate would taste nasty.

“That reminds me of our memory verse from Sunday School last week,” said Cara Ann excitedly. “It was Romans 8:28. ‘All things work together for good—’” she began.

“Oh, yeah!” Kevin interrupted. “Our teacher told us that God will take both bad and good things in our lives and combine them to produce something good. That’s just like the gross baking chocolate being mixed with other ingredients to make a delicious chocolate cake.”

“You’re exactly right,” said Mom, nodding her head. “God has a purpose in everything He brings our way—whether it’s enjoyable for us at the time or not. In the end, though, we’ll see that His plan was the best. He’ll bring everything together for good. We just need to trust Him and leave the results in His hands.”

If you belong to God, He is working everything in your life together for your good.

My response:
» Are there some things going on in my life that I don’t really like?
» Have I given those things over to God?
» Am I completely trusting Him to make “all things work together for good” in my life?

“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).

Excitement filled the air. Joel, almost two years old, and four-year-old Jami were going on their first family trip ever! Mom and Dad were packing the last items in the car, and Uncle Doug and Aunt Kathy would soon be joining them on their weekend getaway to the coast of Maine. As they headed down the New York highway with Uncle Doug and Aunt Kathy in the car behind them, Joel and Jami started to lose some of their energetic spirit. Where were the ocean and the sand they could play in? Mom and Dad soon explained that they would have to wait hours for that part of the trip. Right now, they could only look out the window and wait. Trees and power lines whizzed by. It wasn’t much fun yet.

Soon after stopping at a rest stop and rearranging the seating placement in the two cars, the travelers got back on the highway with the three guys in one car and the three ladies in the other. It wasn’t very long until the cars finally slowed down again. They had reached a line of cars waiting at a toll booth. Just as their dad handed his money to the attendant in the booth, a huge 18-wheel tractor trailer truck rammed into some cars behind them. The speed and force were so incredible that, like dominoes, cars started smashing into each other until the car with Joel, his dad, and his uncle was hit. Not only was the car turned around, but also the gas tank of the car exploded.

Of the three people in that car, Joel’s burns were by far the worst. In fact, over 85 percent of his body was burned. Doctors from around the world agree that he had the worst injuries of any burn survivor up to that point. The doctors did everything they could do, but they knew that the best care he could receive was found at the Shriners Burn Institute. However, Shriners had no available beds. Joel’s family and friends began praying, and a bed soon became available. A bed was reserved for Joel because another patient had died.

Twenty-six years and forty-five surgeries later, Joel has recovered well and has become a well-known speaker and author. He says in his autobiography that even after all these years and all his experiences, he is still in awe that another person had to die in order for him to live and receive needed care at Shriners. Just like someone died to reserve his spot at Shriners, Jesus Christ died to reserve us a place in Heaven. After He was in the grave three days, He rose from the dead and ministered on earth. As He left earth again to join His Father in Heaven, He promised us that He has reserved a place for us in Heaven because of his death. Joel was able to witness firsthand a beautiful picture of what Christ did for us!

God’s Son died so that you could have a place reserved for you in Heaven.

My response:
» Have I claimed the reservation Christ made for me in Heaven?
» If so, am I daily thanking God for it?
» If not, what am I waiting for?