Who Do You Listen To?

"Peter was still speaking when a bright light covered them in its shadow, and a voice from the cloud said, 'This is my Son, the Beloved, my Chosen One. Listen to Him.'" - Matthew 17:5

While few of us want to be leaders, the truth is that the rest of us are comfortable following. We like to look up to successful people with life experience. Take Oprah for example… on Friday's Today Show, I saw a woman who vowed to follow every bit of Oprah's advice for the next year. Over the weekend a woman told me she was reading one of Oprah's book picks because 5 other people recommended it, and now, because Oprah said so, people are calling Barack Obama "the one."

But what does Oprah, and other "leaders" like her actually do for us? What difference do they make in each of our lives an individuals? If we are going to follow someone, it needs to be someone with authority, with compassion, with insight into our lives, and that genuinely cares for us. If we give so much credit to Oprah for making our homes, diets, and reading choices better, we need to give Jesus Christ even more credit for what He did for us and what He continues to do every day. What fascinates me is that at the wedding at Cana, His mother told the servants who needed wine, "do whatever He tells you." A mother gave up her authority to place all power in the control of her son. During the Transfiguration, God Himself called Jesus His Chosen One and told us to listen to Him! God, the Father Almighty, actually told us to trust completely in Jesus Christ! Therefore, we should look at prayer and reading the bible as the key to life, where to go when we need advice, when we need to reprioritize our lives. All authority and power has been put in Jesus' hands to give us life, but are you following Him? Are you listening to Him as God told us to do? We spend money and time listening and following people that don't do anything for us. If you want real change in your life and someone who actually cares for you, leave behind the superficial and follow Jesus.

Today's Prayer:
Father, help me see what really matters in my life. Help me to leave behind the superficial and seek the fulfillment of my soul. In Jesus' Name, amen.