Who Is Following Who?

I read a devotional tonight that was well worth mentioning.  This is courtesy of Devotionals Daily and is written by Mark Batterson.  In his devotional, he states the following:

"Most people in most churches think they are following Jesus, but I'm not so sure.  They may think they are following Jesus, but the reality is this:  they have invited Jesus to follow them.  They call Him Savior, but they've never surrendered to Him as Lord.  And I was one of them.  Trust me, I didn't want to go anywhere without Jesus right there behind me.  But I wanted Jesus to follow me, to serve my purposes, to do my will."

Now, that was food for thought.  Am I following Jesus or trying to get Jesus to follow me?  Did I want to walk beside Jesus or in front of him?  

I was reminded of what Jesus said in John 15:5 (NLT),  "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.  Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.  For apart from me you can do nothing." 

Am I following Jesus or expecting Him to follow me?  Am I giving Him complete control and accepting His plan for my life or am I stubbornly expecting Him to arrange my life to turn out like I want it to?  I Samuel 15:23 (NLT), tell us: "Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols."  

How do I know for sure who is following who?  The first step would be to look at how I spend my time.  Do I spend time with Jesus, or just a minute here and there in prayer - asking for what I want?  Do I go ahead and do whatever I want to and then quickly ask Him to forgive me?  Do I pray over decisions that I need to make or do I just make them and expect Him to have them turn out the way I wanted them to?  Do I worry at all about what His plan for me is - what His will for me is - what His plan for my life is?

How do I know for sure if I am following Jesus?  I john 2:3 (NLT) says:  "And we can be sure that we know Him if we obey His commandments."  So, if I am truly following Jesus instead of expecting Him to follow me, I will be following His commandments.  I will have a time set aside to spend with Him.  I will ask for His guidance in my decisions.  And, I will praise Him and thank Him for all that is in my life - good and bad.  And, I will humbly ask Him to lead me down the path He has planned for me. 

Who are you following?  How do you make sure you are following Jesus?