FOLLOW ME.... (or not)

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
Matthew 4:19 NIV

In this crazy world of cyberspace we are obsessed with the concept of "following".

friends.....facebook.com
followers....twitter.com
more followers...blogspot...wordpress....
myspace.com.....
yourspace.org...

anyspace.
allspace.
everyspace.

It is the definitive characteristic of success.

How many followers do you have?
She has so many followers ..she must be good..really good...
How do I get that many followers...
Maybe if I follow who she follows..others will see me and follow me too cause she's so great...
I wanna be great like that...
I am great like that..
If only people knew how great I am..
I need to let them know...

Follow. Click.
Join.Click.
Friend.Click.

WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP.
 (excuse my ...ummm)

It is viral.
We are infected.

It is an epidemic of mass proportions.
You could say it has reached the pandemic stage.

A person is now measured by the amount of followers they have.
By the amount of views.hits.visits.
Tweets.
Re-tweets
#FF

popularity.
word of mouth.
referrals.
recommendations.

Is anyone else scared like I am?

It is a lie.

Deception.

I have a question,

Does your neighbor know you?
Have they been to dinner?
Have they seen how you live?
How is your face to face time with the people on your street?
Not your church.
Your street.
Your neighborhood.

Not "hi " as you go out your garage door through your open window of your SUV.
Or " hello, how are you, "..as you pass each other in the local Sobey's or Whole Foods.

How about in your own house?
Do they get your heart as much as your blog followers do?????
Or are they interfering with the beauty of your alternate reality?

Here's another question.

If you are following 150 blogs.
A couple hundred tweeters.
Writing your own blog.
Following the news.
Watching videos on youtube.
Tweeting for hours.
Meeting up for cybercafe.
Facebooking.
Moderating.

Who are you really following?

Have you ever thought that the online persona of an individual is virtually unable to be confirmed ?

We can say what we want.
Be who we want.
Portray what we want.
Sell what we want.
Market ourselves.
Package ourselves.
Insulate ourselves.
Lose ourselves.
Deceive ourselves.
..and everyone else....

"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?"

Mark 8:36

Now I know this verse can be used in the area of possessions/wealth etc....but lately it seems to be burning up all the waste in my soul, with regards to this online life.
We have the world at our finger tips...or so it seems.

Thousands of followers just waiting to be had.

We crave recognition.
Approval.
Validation.
Praise.
And we are pursuing it...with all our might!

We sell it under the banner of sharing the truth...
Encouraging others...

But we own it.
It's ours.
We package it up and sell it like we came up with it.
 Don't forget to link back to me.
Give me the credit.
follow me.
Follow Me.
FOLLOW ME.

I am dying here.
Shaking in my boots.
Crying out .

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."

Proverbs 9:10

How then should we live?
How then should I live ?

I am working on it.

But I know today who I follow.
And the way He walks is very narrow.
I chose Him because He first chose me.
He is getting the most of my time.
He gets my full attention.
He is the filter through which everything else flows.
He fills my mind as I do the rest of my living in my 24 hr day.
The next largest chunk goes to those within the range of my eyes and the reach of my hands.

I read everything I write to my guys.
I pour out my heart and share it first with them.
They get my best.
Most often.
Precious fertile fields of the Lord they are.
Cultivated. Watered. Weeded. Guarded.
If you read my blog...it's all good.
You can follow or not as your heart leads.
I write because I am compelled...
It's how my brain works.
Take what you need.
Leave the rest.
Live your life.....grow at your own pace...in your own space.
Illuminate.

Great is the Lord...and Holy is His name.
I will bloom in the real world.
On the ground where my foot treads.
I will shine with His light.
In front of the people who are present....
...the ones in front of me...around me on all sides.
I will give an accounting for their lives...gifts from God....
Treasured Responsibilities.

Word of God speak....wash our eyes to see....