Life is not a line dance...but I wish it was.

Growing up I used to love to watch musicals.  I've always had a love for music.  I used to enjoy dancing around for my parents in our living room.  You could put on any song and I'd find a reason to dance to it.  As I reached middle school age I decided that dancing in front of people was embarrassing.  Especially if you didn't know what you were doing.  Freestyle dancing just seemed quite scary after I reached a certain age, especially in front of others.  As I got older it became more and more intimidating until I learned of such a thing as line dancing.

Line dancing involves learning the steps and then putting those steps to music.  What's bad about line dancing or any kind of choreographed dances put to music is that it changes the way you listen to that music.  Once you learn a dance to a particular song from this point forward when you hear that song you will want to do that particular dance.  For example, can you listen to the electric slide without wanting to do the electric slide line dance?  I teach aerobics.  There are several songs that I love that I put an aerobic or step aerobic activity to.  Now, when I hear one of those songs I want to do that particular aerobic activity.  What if I just want to dance around when I hear that song?  It's hard to because I've wired my brain to do that choreographed dance.  

I'm a Christian.  I believe in Jesus!  I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins.  I believe that because of Jesus, I am free.  I am free to dance with him.  I want him to teach me a line dance.  I want him to say these are the steps to take to make life better, easier, more comfortable, less embarrassing, more controlled.  I want to go to Jesus and take his hand and lead HIM to the dance floor.  I want to do a line dance with him.  I want to know the steps ahead, know when to turn left, when to stomp my feet, when to shuffle and when to do a dosey doe.  However, as I have been learning how to dance with Jesus I've come to realize something...

Jesus is not a line dancer.  You don't go get Jesus from across the crowded room and bring him to the dance floor to teach him the dance.  Jesus comes and gets you.  He chooses you.  You have to decide for yourself to take his hand.  Once you do, you are going to want him to teach you the steps, he does that but not the way you think he would.  We have to let Jesus lead.  We have to leave our worries and cares behind and when he says Come, follow me, we take his hand and trust his lead.