Follow Me
Do you ever find yourself comparing your life to someone else? If you get on Facebook even for a minute you begin to see the lives of others. Some good and some bad. I know we have all heard the quote, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” I talked about joy in my last blog and how ultimate joy comes from God. And it does. But it’s so easy to look at someone else’s life and begin to get discouraged. The enemy will use this as a tactic. I have had to remove myself from social media numerous times because of it. I read something today that spoke to this and I wanted to share it with you.
I was in John 21 beginning with verse 20. Peter is looking back as he is walking with Jesus and sees John also following them. When Peter saw him he asked Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Now I am not sure exactly why he is asking. I did a little bit of research and to be honest I am still not sure. But the Lord gives him an answer. “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” Maybe he is asking about how long he will live or if he will have to die a certain death. I am not sure, but I do know that John was labeled “the one that Jesus loved.” I sometimes wonder how that made the other disciples feel. Or did they know this about him?
There were a couple of things that stuck out to me. First in verse 20 it says that Peter turned and saw John was following them. Jesus made it clear in his answer to Peter, “What is it to you?” How many times do we stop and look around at what others are doing? Or how they are doing it? Or what the Lord has given them, but not us? I am guilty of this. I begin looking at what’s around me and it can intimidate me. It can knock me off my course. It can honestly put me into a form of depression. I have been there.
The second thing he said to Peter in the scripture in John was, “Follow Me.” Have you ever tried to walk forward while you are looking behind you? It’s actually hard. You begin to not walk straight anymore and almost at an angle. At least I do, lol. Maybe there is something to that. This reminds me of the verse in Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.” When we follow and submit to Him, He makes our paths straight. It goes back to the example of trying to walk straight while looking behind you. It’s almost impossible. Jesus said plain and simple, “Follow Me.” If our eyes are on Him we have a straight path. Our path. Not the person next to us, we weren’t meant for their path. Even if it looks better than ours at the moment.
We have to trust in the Lord with all of our heart and not lean on our own understanding. Sometimes my own understanding gets in the way of where the Lord wants to take me. Looking behind me or to the side of me gets me off of the straight path the Lord has promised me. It’s so easy to get side-tracked. But His plan for YOU is good and perfect. So guard your heart and mind today. Keep looking forward and keep your eyes on Jesus. You can trust Him.