following the shepherd

Bible Verses about Following Jesus

Do you remember the hymn, “Where He Leads Me I Will Follow?”

It is such a beautifully written hymn reminding us to follow Jesus, “all the way”. Each stanza of the hymn repeats 3 times and then the 4th line states, “I’ll go with Him, with Him, all the way.” Jesus wants you to follow Him all the way, in each moment every single day.  How? 

We pulled together 150 Enlightening Bible verses about following Jesus to remind you that we all need to keep our eyes on Him. You will find more Bible verses about anything and everything to help you forget not the Lord. 

These Bible verses tell us the path to take, the how to follow and our role as a sheep following Jesus, the Shepherd. 

Bible verses about following Jesus
  • Proverbs 3:5-6
  • Psalm 84:11-12
  • Psalm 86:10-12
  • Isaiah 40:28-31
  • 2 Corinthians 5:7
  • Philippians 3:7-21 
  • Colossians 2:6-7
  • 1 John 1:5-10
  • Ephesians 5:1-2
  • 1 John 2:1-6
  • Romans 8:1-4
  • Galatians 5:14-25
  • Habakkuk 3:19 
  • Psalm 119:105
  • John 8:12
  • Ephesians 4:1-6
  • 1 Peter 2:21-25
  • John 10:1-30
  • Psalm 23
  • Hebrews 11

Follow the Leader

One of the first games kids learn to play is follow the leader. It is a game where a leader is picked whose job is to lead the people around the area safely. 

children playing follow the leader

 

The leader will set an example of how the followers are to also do as he or she does. 

The followers are the ones who follow the leader and do what he or she does.

In the game, the leader may lead you around the tree, over the brick wall, down the hill and across the stream of water. The leader may touch the tree, scale the wall, roll down the hill and jump across the stream. 

As the follower, you would do exactly what the leader does. 

The leader must be mindful of what is best for the followers because the leader cares and wants the safety and trust of the followers. 

The followers need to fully trust the leader. 

Jesus is the leader and you are the follower

There is no better leader in this world that you can fully trust other than Jesus. Jesus was present at creation and all things were made through Him. He knows the number of hairs on your head, your every thought, dream and desire and He designed you down to your fingerprints. 

He came to earth and walked the areas of His creation being the example of living, demonstrating how He wants you to be. 

Your purpose is to follow Jesus. 

To follow Him, you need to walk as He walked by regulating your life to His example of love and imitate Him. 

Simple right?

Enter the antagonist and enemy of your life, Satan. His ultimate desire is to keep you distracted, disconnected and blinded from following Jesus.  

As long as you keep your eyes on Jesus and do as He did, you will not stumble over all the things thrown in your path.  How do you see Him when you can’t “see” Him with your eyes? 

To follow the leader, Jesus, you look for Him in the Bible which is His Word. 

Where He leads me I will follow

Remember the hymn we talked about earlier, Where He Leads Me I Will Follow? 

The writer is talking about “Him”, Jesus, as the one to follow.

The beginning of the song’s lyrics state, “I can hear my Savior calling.” After the writer repeats these lines 3 times, he says as if to remind himself, “I’ll go with Him, with Him all the way.”

The refrain:

Where He leads me I will follow,
Where He leads me I will follow,
Where He leads me I will follow,
I’ll go with Him, with Him all the way.

Repeat after us…. where He leads me I will follow! But better yet, read the following Bible verses for yourself and tell Jesus you will follow Him all the way.

Bible Art Lesson for Kids

Visit our Shop for a Bible Art Lesson on following the Shepherd that kids of all ages can enjoy.  

Bible verses about how to follow Jesus

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
 
Psalm 84:11-12
 
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!
 
Psalm 86:10-12
 
For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.
Teach me your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.
 
Isaiah 40:28-31
 
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
 
 
2 Corinthians 5:7
for we walk by faith, not by sight.

Bible verses to follow Jesus Christ

Philippians 3:7-21 

Verse 12 is the reminder to press to the goal.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect,

but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Colossians 2:6-7

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
 
1 John 1:5-10
 
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
 
Ephesians 5:1-2
 
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
 
1 John 2:1-6
 
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
And by this we know that we have come to know him,
if we keep his commandments.
Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,
but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:
whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
Romans 8:1-4
 
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Bible verses about following Jesus

Hall of faith- study the examples of those who followed God

Have you ever read Hebrews 11?

You’ve heard of a “Hall of Fame”? This is where people who have accomplished something important or are famous are inducted into a hall of fame.  Their photographs are placed on a wall where others can see. 

Some are even given a plaque to commemorate their accomplishments. 

Hebrews 11 is a chapter in the Bible much like a hall of fame.  Visualize each person throughout the Bible verses with their name and maybe even a video of their life story playing on the wall beside their name. You would see many popular Bible characters who you know and some you need to know within those verses. 

Their faith and walk with God’s Spirit illustrates man’s purpose of following the right leader.  You could call Hebrews 11 the “Hall of Faith”.

Following Jesus requires His Spirit

Galatians 5:14-25

 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
 
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
 
 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
 
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
 
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
 
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
 
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
sheep following the shepherd
 
 

How to follow Jesus

Habakkuk 3:19 

GOD, the Lord, is my strength;

he makes my feet like the deer’s;

he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.

Our favorite way to study this verse is from the Amplified Bible Version. Sometimes we miss important words and their meanings when we just read the words rather than study them. 

The Lord God is my strength [my source of courage, my invincible army];

He has made my feet [steady and sure] like hinds’ feet

And makes me walk [forward with spiritual confidence] on my [a]high places [of challenge and responsibility].

Those are beautiful meaningful words written about following the right leader. Jesus makes your feet like those of a mountain climbing hinds’ feet that are able to circle that tree, scale that wall, tackle that hill and cross that stream with steadiness and sureness. 

But He also gives you the ability to walk and the way to see!

Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

John 8:12

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

Ephesians 4:1-6

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
 
 There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call–  one Lord, one faith, one baptism,  one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
sheep resting with the shepherd
 

Smart sheep follow the Good Shepherd

If you don’t already know it, sheep are not the smartest animals on the earth. 

Actually, sheep are one of the dumbest animals roaming the world. They get into briars, brambles and are always falling into pits. Sheep get distracted and wander off from the pack making themselves prey to enemy predators. 

Sheep need a shepherd. 

It’s no wonder that Jesus compares people to sheep. He also tells us that He is our Shepherd. But don’t think Jesus doesn’t understand what it is like to be a sheep… after all, He is the perfect Lamb of God. 

That’s why we should walk as He walked because He has walked this earth and did not sin. 

John 10:1-30 is a wonderful passage of Jesus telling a story about sheep following the shepherd. 

“The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”

When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

All we need to do is follow the leader and listen to His voice that can only be found in the Word. 

What happens with we do not follow the leader?

Remember those dumb sheep who take their eyes off of the shepherd? They find themselves in tough places and sometimes lost. They are exposed to the wolves and whatever the world  throws at them.

That is why we need the Good Shepherd.

Luke 15:1-7

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

So he told them this parable:

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 

And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 

And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them,

‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

 

sheep following the shepherd

 

The LORD is my Shepherd

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
 
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me
beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
 
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
 
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
 

Jesus is the Good Shepherd 

1 Peter 2:21-25
 
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
 
He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
 
When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
 
 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
 
following the shepherd
 

Will you follow Jesus?

Will you follow Jesus and go with Him all the way?

He has given His life for you because He loved you and loves you still.

Follow Him little sheep! Keep your eyes on the Shepherd because He is the ultimate leader. 

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