Follow the Leader - Jo Huddleston

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” John 10:14, NIV


“Let’s play ‘Follow the Leader,’ and I’m the leader!”

I watched as smiling neighborhood children hurried to line up behind Emily. She had called the game first, appointing herself as leader. Whatever the game, Emily usually emerged as the leader, other children content to comply. They seemed happy to follow her leadership without question.

Jesus told the disciples that if they would follow Him they had to deny themselves daily. Peter speaks for the disciples when he tells Jesus they obeyed and left everything to follow Him. When we accept Jesus Christ as Savior, we will display this follow-the-leader attitude.

In the parable of the shepherd and his flock, Jesus teaches that sheep follow their shepherd “because they know His voice.” He says sheep won’t follow a stranger; rather they will run away from him because they don’t know the stranger’s voice. Without a shepherd, sheep fall into disarray and become scattered about.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He knows His sheep and they follow Him. Christians know Jesus Christ as the genuine shepherd whose direction they follow. A committed Christian won’t follow the wrong leader.

Are you playing ‘Follow the Leader’ by following the world? Or are you really following our heavenly leader?


Jo Huddleston is the author of four nonfiction books and the coauthor of an E-book on writing for the Christian marketplace. More than 200 of her devotions, articles and stories have appeared in over fifty publications, including Guideposts and Decision.