Who are you following?

I have two grandsons, and they happen to be brothers who are only 13 months apart. They are typical little boys, always getting into things and messing with each other whenever they see an opportunity. One thing that we see all the time is when the older one is doing something, the younger one has to either know or be involved. Then, of course, the older one gets upset, they get into a fight, and we get to explain that you have to focus on yourself and leave each other alone.  

All of us as adults are pretty familiar with kids doing this, and it really shouldn’t surprise us, but what about when we are the ones doing it? Now I don’t know about you, but I myself struggle with this sometimes when I put my focus on other people instead of God or what He has called me to do. The temptation for all of us to focus on someone else is always there because it’s easy and we like to compare, but what do we do when that happens? Well, in the book of John, we see Peter having a similar situation, so I thought we could look at what Jesus said to Him so we can learn how to grow in this area. 

In John 21:18-22 we see: “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!” Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” 

Here we see Jesus telling Peter what his future holds and then tells Peter to follow Him. The word follow here describes an intimate accompanying of that person, a being attached at the hip if you will. So Jesus is saying to Peter, “You stay attached to me and focused on Me and not anything or anyone else.” Personally, if I were Peter, I would have had a ton of questions and maybe even how I could avoid all of it. Peter, on the other hand, doesn’t do any of that; he hears all of this and his first thought is to be more concerned with somebody else and what Jesus is going to do with them. 

Now to be sure, neither response, the one I would have had or Peter’s would have been a right response. The fact that Jesus says to follow Him should be enough, and we should know that after everything He has done, we can trust Him to do what’s best. Now I want to be clear and say that doesn’t mean that we don’t call out issues we see or even admonish other believers, but Jesus is our focus. If our focus is Christ and what He is wanting us to do, then when we do these things, it will be because He has guided us into that. 

So today, when you are tempted to look around at others and ask or wonder, look up and remember to follow Jesus. Stay attached to Him and focused on Him, and you will be right where you need to be. 

If you are here today and you don’t know Jesus, I ask you, who are you following? Today, Jesus invites you to follow Him and know the forgiveness for your sins that you so desperately need that only He can offer. Today is the day of salvation; don’t waste it.