Where are you going?

To follow means to go or to come after (a person or thing proceeding ahead); move, or travel behind. I hope I haven’t bored you already by opening up this article with a dictionary meaning, are you still following what I am saying? To follow is to pay close attention to: “I’ve been following this discussion closely” or, “Have you been following the news recently?”. Following, or having “followers”, is not a new concept. Since the beginning when the first “thing” was made and the first “person” was formed, as soon as 1 became 2 there was a chance that something could be followed. Now, in order for something to be followed, it must lead. Remember our definition before ( a person or thing proceeding ahead). To proceed is to “move forward”, or “begin a new course of action” — this requires something to be set in motion. Let’s use my favorite example of walking a dog on a “lead”. Most dogs enjoy a nice walk, the idea is that if they obey their master they can be taken out of the backyard attached to a rope, and can sniff around the streets, piss on bushes and bark at other dogs while the walker takes them to where he or she desires. When a dog seizes this great opportunity of predominately letting the owner take control, it can see and go to places it never would have dreamed of! However, this is just a myth that never comes to life if the dog chooses to stay in the confines of its backyard and has not chosen to follow its master. Dogs can end up on planes, at the beach or in a famous person’s handbag — the list is endless. They also can get jobs in important industries, but most of us see dogs as helpers. Whether they help just by being company or cracking codes like inspector rex, a helping dog, a good dog, is a dog that loves and obeys its master. We can learn a lot from dogs and dogs can learn a lot from us. Dogs blindly follow us and they reap many rewards for doing so, but we with a concept of good and evil know full well that not all owners lead their dogs to greener pastures. Sometimes owners lead dogs to tiny little cages where they spend their days starving and barking. Sometimes they are lead to bigger cages that are more spacious, only to then have to fight one of their furry friends to the death inside it. What dogs could learn from us is to ask questions like “Where are you taking me?”, “ What’s that place like?”, “What do you need me to do once I get there?”, or “Do you love me, master?” We have a great gift called free will, and the ability to question things so that we know what we sign up for before we follow. But the old saying springs to mind “you miss 99% of the shots you don’t take” — sometimes our questioning can be so excessive and deep that we never follow anyone and end up staying in the backyard weighing up pros and cons about what lead we should be attached to. For better or worse, we can learn from dogs that it’s best to leave the backyard with hope then stay in the backyard with doubt. Well, at least that is how I see it.

Now back to the idea of following, this example we just read about was a very narrow version of following — it is close and personal can lead to fortune and prosperity or to death and destruction. Well, how about a wider road what might that look like. The wider the road the more traffic can be on it, the more people on that road gives the idea that multiple people have decided that this road is good, therefore I should not worry about my choice in location or where I am heading. Or another example: at the theme park lots of people are lining up for that ride, so it must be the best one in the park! Now let’s use the example of following but this time in the style of a herd, this is a great choice if you are the dog in the analogy before that couldn’t choose what master to follow. We all know that students in a bigger classroom have less one on one time then a smaller class say of 4–5, so therefore our personal connection with our master is less intimate. We end up relying on that person next to us if we are struggling with an answer and haven’t got the teachers attention: “Hey do you know the answer for question 3?” All masters have a purpose for why they keep cattle or dogs, even if it’s just cause they found them on the street and thought they should give them a home. More often then not if we choose a master who has many other cattle the game of “Chinese whispers” begins: a message is passed on from the cattle closest to the master because he or she knows the master’s purpose and plan. The message goes from one cow to the next but it varies, each cow puts its own little spin on it. This not only makes it confusing regarding if you have the true message or not, but it also ends up with the element of truth sticking out. You may trust your master and the words of your two other cow friends, but those two other cow friends had word from a cow who stole your grass yesterday and you’re not sure you trust that cow but that cow delivered the masters message? I don’t know about you but that is confusing. I’m not saying that all cows are lead to the slaughter just like before I said not all dogs have good owners. I am merely displaying different types of following. In my opinion dogs don’t get too far without the help of their masters, in the wild, they usually stay in certain areas and live and die there. There is nothing wrong with this, but as humans we are driven by a need for meaning and purpose and destiny. In my opinion cattle do get to places but are often confused in where they are actually going. Now, I believe it’s important to know where you are going when you follow someone and even knowing the step that comes after when you have followed. When we plan a holiday or a job we say, we arrive at this time, we bring this and that, then we go there, come back and then we are done. That’s around 4 different plans we have to follow that all make up a greater plan and if we follow these steps our plan comes to life. Now think about who you follow or what is typically followed in mainstream society — how many plans do they let you in on before you follow and how many times have they been truthful in their leadership? Let’s take the news for example we have recently had the Covid-19 pandemic and now the George Floyd tragedy. There are plenty of inconsistencies and grey areas in both of these situations. When we choose to follow someone, don’t we like to know where the person or thing was before so that we know if it is beneficial to follow or if it has been beneficial to those who have followed in the past? We all know now what happened with George; we all saw the video and we have been “following” the news. Let’s stop right there. To follow the George story we have to follow the news first, now where has the news lead us before and has it been truthful? In the news when Covid first emerged there was countless things that were reported as “facts” about it that were later withdrawn? Wait hang on? I follow you, you told me if I was amongst a lot of people I would get sick? You told me the virus stays on surfaces for X amount of time? You told me there was a vaccine coming soon? Wait you’re telling me it takes years to find a real cure now? All I know about all of that is that it “leads” to uncertainty, it leads to confusion, it leads to fear, it leads to arguing. Am I a dog that is going to be taken to the Pitt, I thought I was a good dog and get to go to the park. See how many parts of the plan we just went through? And all these parts of a plan were given to us from all different cows, all cows following the cows in front of them.. but notice they were all giving one step at a time, a carrot and stick type approach, this is how they distribute. Back to George, now okay so we “follow” the news and we stumble across this brutal scene. But who was George, who really started the Black Lives Matter movement? Was it black people? The news continues to show us the next part of the story every time we tune in, so you could say the news produce what they would like the viewer to see next, just like your favorite Netflix show they control what you see and what you don’t. But let’s go back to following and steps. Any good chess player plays a few steps ahead so you can predict where you opponent will be and capitalize on them. If you play move by move aka step by step you become obvious then they obviously know what to do next to control you and dictate the game. So the answer becomes simple: to be good at chess we play like the people who are good at chess.. we “follow” their schemes and play type and then we can play on an even playing field. So next time you watch the news or follow something, let’s think about how many moves they show us — how many steps, let’s think about before, now, and after. A wise turtle once said “ yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the “present.” Now we must learn from history, prepare for the mystery of tomorrow and be watchful with the present that is currently in our hands. Just as a dog gets treats for being good so do we.. but are we talking Smackos ( a good Australian dog treat) or smacks from our master? What present do we have on our hands when we follow this master?

I spend most of my life saying things like “Look at them, they’re all sheep, I am not like them. To be a sheep is pathetic”. I couldn’t have been further from the truth, Everything changed for me one day when my brother told me a story. This has already been a long article but the main premise was “ You have a lot of opinions but what do YOU really BELIEVE in?” This struck a chord in my heart, am I a dog who sits in the backyard, stuck in my doubts and confusion? Or am I a dog who follows its master into the fray for better or worse with hopes for the best but preparing for the worst? On that day I chose my master and the rope was attached, a rope that I hope never breaks off my chain. Regardless of if you’ve ever really considered yourself a sheep or not, we have all been it at one stage. We followed our parents when we learned to walk, we followed our friends into our first sports game, we followed the teacher in the room for the first lesson. When I take my dog for a walk I let him off the lead sometimes cause he loves the freedom, I am however careful which spots I let him off in because I know where in my nature walk he could encounter other dogs. Most of the times I encounter another dog when my dog is off the lead my dog gets himself into trouble: he starts a fight or gets into one or scares someone etc. (he is a golden retriever and he scares people sometimes, haha this truly is 2020). With his free will he doesn’t get very far and can get into trouble but I love him enough to let him take that risk and I take the risk that I potentially put him into danger when I give him free will. I’m glad every time we get home and have had a successful walk cause there is nothing worse than breaking up a dog fight when you wanted a peaceful stroll in the sun. And he is glad too that he entrusted me to take care of him, Then he gets the privilege to go to other beautiful places like mountains and sand dunes, places he could never get to on his own. Free will is a benefit of the master I follow and also protection and love but we will talk more on that later. So not only does the news “government” whatever you want to call it the media, only give us one piece of information a time to follow, they now give us new rules to do with their new stories, and if we don’t follow we are punished, and even if we didn’t know or hear about it, it is still considered negligence. That’s like me telling my dog: “hey, you may go off the lead but if you get yourself into trouble you will end up in a cage”. Sure there’s nothing wrong with punishment and bad dogs should be disciplined but how specific can you be with a dog really? Just like how can you really be specific with a person’s personal life if you don’t know them? How can you say that one service is essential and another isn’t? Some dogs like swimming and others don’t? Some dogs bring sticks back others chew em? The important thing here is that each dog gets what it needs not what its master thinks. I have tried for a long time to get my dog to play with tennis balls, but he hates them. Such is life, some things will never change and some things I believe shouldn’t; like the word you give someone who is going to follow you. Before we had the dog confused on which master to follow, now imagine a confused dog following a confused master — what a disaster! We need a leader who tells us how it was, how it is, and how it will be. I realize now I am a sheep whether I think I am or not, but I know now there is nothing wrong with being a sheep (Shawn the sheep was famous haha) If you have the right Shepard. No human farmer can love every sheep as closely as one owner can love their dog, but what if I told you there was a master who loves all his sheep the same and loves them like a good owner loves their dog? What if I told you this leader hasn’t changed where he wants to take us for thousands of years? What if I told you, you have access to a complete step by step guide on where you are going and how you are going there and what you need to do? When a store gets robbed, a quite large one that is prosperous and is known by many, usually a robber points a gun or a knife at the cashier. And without hesitation the staff hands over the cash — if they are brave they might push the button to alert the police of what has gone down, but rarely would a person earning minimum wage-price of their life for what is not truly theirs. “The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” Are you owned by what you follow? No? Then what is to stop this happening to you when the chips aren’t stacked in your favor? When a local corner store is robbed say in America etc, someones livelihood is at stake, their families future, their bread and butter. We have all seen videos of a brave shop owner drawing a gun and defending what is rightfully his. “I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep.” A message from my master, He defends me, can you say the same? I believe we can both be sheep and Shepard’s at the same time just like we can be someone’s boss but have a boss over us. Since I started to follow my master Jesus Christ, I have had hardships but the benefits vastly outnumber them. I have been given a head clear of confusion, I can now do things I never dreamed of doing, I now have a purpose, I now no longer feel empty , I now am happy, I now feel loved, I now will stop giving you examples or we will be here forever. So what master will you choose and what road shall you take? Here’s some advice from my master. The Narrow and Wide Gates “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” I wrote this article and the one before with the hope that it would lead at least one person to Christ or at least get you thinking about the possibilities of the life-changing opportunity, and don’t feel discouraged or feel unworthy for this club because everyone is invited and no one is forced. “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” So the question isn’t “Where are you going?” it is “Who do you follow”

ALL GLORY BE TO GOD Written by Luke Gaymer