‘Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow,
Don’t walk behind me, I won’t know the way,
Just walk beside me and be my friend.’
It was a long time ago that I first read this in a Valentine card and I might have slightly misquoted it but at the time the words meant a lot to me. Now I realise that this can be applied to our walk with Jesus. If Jesus walks in front of us, we might find it difficult to keep up. The things He tells us might be too difficult for us to understand. He may get so far ahead of us that we lose sight of Him altogether.
If He walks behind we will not know which way to go. We will not be able to see Him. It will be as if He is not there at all. We will stumble in the difficult places; we will go wild in the easy places. We will be walking in unproven places.
If He walks beside us our way will be safe and secure. He will hold our hand over the difficult places; He will place His hand comfortingly on our shoulder in the easy places. He will not only be our guide and encourager; He will be our friend!