Follow thou me

Bible Reading: John 21
John 21:21-22 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? 22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

Peter had just been recommissioned by Jesus. Since he denied Jesus three times, Jesus asked him three times if he loved him and told him to feed his sheep. That is what shepherds do - they care for sheep. Not only did Jesus put Peter back onto the shepherd's path of preaching, but he also told him that his life would end as a martyr and in this way he would bring glory to God.

John 21:18-19 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. 19 This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

In essence, Jesus told Peter that he would die a violent martyr's death. He also instructed him that his death would glorify God. He also told him it would happen when he was old. This would be hard to take, would it not? I don't want to know how I will die! I would be thinking about it from now on.

John was also sitting there and Peter wanted to know what would be John's future. What about him?

Aren't we like that? We compare ourselves with ourselves. We have a calling from Jesus and we compare what he is doing in our lives with what he is doing in someone else's. We look to our ministry and wonder how that compares with someone else's ministry. Jesus' answer is very telling and very freeing.

It does not matter what Jesus' plan is for someone else. You don't need to worry about that. It does not concern you. If I want him to live until I return, what is that to you? Wow! Jesus makes no excuse for having a different plan for one disciple over another. One person glorifies God in their martyr's death while another glorifies God in their long life.

Jesus gave Peter no answer. He told him it was none of his business how Jesus dealt with John. Instead of comparing another disciple, follow Jesus! That is a great word for all of us. Follow Jesus! Stop looking around and comparing. Get in the Bible and get the Word of God into you then follow Jesus. He has a plan for you that is not exactly the same as someone else's life.

In Christ,
Rody