what is following like?

i love reading leadership blogs, books, anything related to growing me as a leader...i am into. so much so, that some times i forget what it is like to follow. more importantly, following Christ. you know some times it is just easier to do it on my own. i mean, for crying out loud...it is hard to follow an invisible God that seemingly is always throwing curve balls at you. or is he?

i read this great story in the old testament today, out of 1 samuel 15 , it is about samuel following God, hoping saul follows him and saul almost got it right. and he does what i do, he pretends that he tried to do the right thing. but instead, he disobeys the Lord. and the Lord says something that scares the hell out of me. he says he was sorry that he appointed saul as king of israel.

sometimes i have likened following Christ to working out. saying, it seems, from an out of shape guy, that before you go to the gym and look like an idiot...you ought to get in shape a little bit and figure out what it is your doing before you go in there with all those muscle bound, lean, mean, perfect people. but i aslo think it is like this aspect of working out...i want to be in shape. i want to look good and live a healthy life style...but at the end of most days, i have eaten way more calories than i have burned...and i just settle for the lifestyle and figure that i already have.
i dont know about you, but i never want to hear that the Lord is sorry he chose me for the plan that he has for my life. NEVER!

so, i took some steps to help me in this journey.

• i wrote out a covenant with the Lord. i was honest with where i am and i made a vow to move forward.
• i enlisted the help of an accountability partner with this covenant. putting flesh on a deal with God gives you someone to make it known.
• i am praying...constantly. in my thoughts, words, actions, etc...
• i am also saying that my physical life needs to be in-line with my spiritual life. somehow the two are connected i think. i started working out, while on vacation!, that is saying something. (kim helps with this, she has been working out for a while now)

not that this is a fix all for everyone, but it is right for me. how bout you? where have you been? have you ever forgotten how to follow? what did you do to help correct it?