Hey, there friend! It's Tuesday! It's the first Tuesday of September! You may be thinking, "What significance does this have?" Suppose you are in some portions of the southern part of the United States. In that case, September marks the beginning of a new season, not necessarily the Autumn you see on the calendar, but a new season nonetheless. 
The temperatures and humidity begin their descent to the icebox of winter, the foliage starts to show the signs of the dormancy that will come, the amount of sunlight in our day is reduced and yes, Oh yes, College Football begins. (Wooo Pig Soooie!!!, click on the following for more info: "Calling The Hogs" - wikipedia.org, "Do you know the history of the Hog call?" - Laura Monteverdi, THV11 - March 26, 2019, U of A's Calling the Hogs: A Nissan Fan-Fueled Tradition - December 12, 2016)
The temperatures and humidity begin their descent to the icebox of winter, the foliage starts to show the signs of the dormancy that will come, the amount of sunlight in our day is reduced and yes, Oh yes, College Football begins. (Wooo Pig Soooie!!!, click on the following for more info: "Calling The Hogs" - wikipedia.org, "Do you know the history of the Hog call?" - Laura Monteverdi, THV11 - March 26, 2019, U of A's Calling the Hogs: A Nissan Fan-Fueled Tradition - December 12, 2016)
The University of Arkansas (Go Hogs!!!) is not exclusive when it comes to having a very excitable fanbase. For those who follow NCAA Football, there are teams all over the United States that have their faithful fans. In stadiums all over the country, you have some of the most diverse gatherings of people ever and for about 4 hours, depending on how much ESPN wants to talk about any team other than the Razorbacks (but I digress) and TV commercial timeouts, this raucous caucus of folks encourages their team. Especially in September, each college team whether they win or lose keeps reassuring their fans to...follow me, everything is all right...
Featuring lyrical content that could have as much diversity in its interpretation as a college football gathering comes "Follow Me", the debut single from Matthew Shafer, also known as, Uncle Kracker. "Follow Me" joins the cadre of songs whose meaning is completely left up to the listener, however, it has been suggested that those lyrics mean anything from drug references to infidelity. You listen, you decide.
"Follow Me" finds itself on a record that shows as much variety as the lyrical interpretation of its hit song. Musically, there is something for everyone on the record from country twangs to some phat R&B hooks. Care should be taken to those listening as you may have noticed that this Double Wide has a warning sign on it for explicit language that is unsuitable for most listeners. Maybe the lack of said language is why "Follow Me" was the most successful track from the album.
Regardless of the analysis of the message of "Follow Me", it saw success on the charts. Domestically, it peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 while taking the top spot on the charts of 8 other countries. It is the highest charting single to date for Uncle Kracker who served as a part of Kid Rock's entourage.
Interpretation of lyrics has been a challenge since the days of the first songs. Many times the words of the song get personalized by the listener. "Follow Me" to some could be construed as a love song, while others see it as a temptation (see last week's Tuesday's Musical Notes). If you've read very many Tuesday's Musical Notes blog posts, you know full well that we see things in just a little bit of a different vein. Some of the content for "Follow Me" sounds very familiar to an invitation we've read about somewhere before...
"You don't know how you met me, you don't know why...Follow Me, everything is alright..." It's a stretch, but that just might be a pretty good paraphrase of the above passages of Scripture.
As we see the ministry of Jesus begin in earnest, we encounter Jesus' calling of the disciples. We need to remember a couple of things as we see Jesus' earthly encounters unfold. First, there is a likelihood that Jesus was familiar to the disciples, especially those who were already following John the Baptist. Remember that while John was an evangelist, he was also a prophet, making straight the pathways for the Lord as he proclaimed Messiah's arrival. Andrew was one of those disciples of John and upon his encounter with Jesus, he immediately knew that Messiah was right before him, calling him to "follow Me". This familiarity makes the following process somewhat more thought through than what Sunday School lessons of the past may have taught.
Secondly, there is a time that elapsed between this moment and the time before the disciples went with Jesus to be with Him full time. In the Gospel accounts, we see Jesus' calling of these first disciples on at least 2 occasions from their fishing business. You may also notice the obedience of the disciples each time Jesus prompts them to "follow Me". Without hesitation, they follow. When called upon to enter full-time service with Jesus, ultimately all 12 dropped everything for three years to become students of The Teacher. Even the betrayer, stopped what he was doing and followed, albeit his motivations were askew.
As they answered this call it is reasonable to think that they did not completely understand the ramifications of what they did by following Jesus. "...All you know is when I'm with you I make you free..." Their obedience, even in times of their doubting, serves as an example to believers today of the faith they had. The disciples left what they knew, the comfort zone of who they were, to become that by which the Good News of Jesus would be proclaimed to the world.
Finally, the disciples we read about at this point, are certainly of a different believing maturity level than the same folks we read of later in Acts or the letters that are found in the New Testament. They had much to learn about what it was to become like Jesus. They didn't always understand everything He was teaching them, yet they continued to sit at His feet and learn from His Words.
Click on this link for a brief article that expounds on the disciples and their calling: "The Calling of the Disciples" by John W. Schoenheit, The Sower Magazine
So what do we do when Holy Spirit calls, "Follow Me"? His first calling is to salvation through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. You must answer this call. If you say "Yes!", you are guaranteed a restored relationship with God and an eternity future with Him. If you say "No...", you are guaranteed separation from Him in an eternity future that is dismal.
Later on, there may be other callings to "Follow Me" that take the shape of mission trips, ministry responsibilities, or telling the grocery clerk about what God has done in your life through Jesus. All of these infuse the maturation process by which we become more like Jesus. We are equipped through Holy Spirit and we learn from the disciple's example as outlined in the Gospels.
The point is, that once we say "yes" to Jesus' invitation to "follow Me", it is a lifelong pursuit. We awake each morning with that calling on our lives and the opportunities that may flow from our "yes".
Uncertain about what is next after saying "yes"? Pray and ask for God's guidance. Search God's Word, the Bible. It is filled with example after example of obedience in following. Also find a church home, where the Bible is taught and loving believers can invest in you, individually and collectively in a small group, so you may better invest in others and tell them about the one who said to you..."...follow me everything is alright..."
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by Loving You,
randy
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