In John 21, we read about an interesting conversation between Jesus and Peter. The conversation takes place after Jesus’ resurrection from His death on the cross. Peter and some of the other disciples had gone back to fishing, and Jesus came to them there by the water and after they had eaten breakfast, Jesus began asking Peter if he truly loved Him and telling Peter that he had a new job now – feeding Jesus “sheep” or followers.
At the end of the conversation, Jesus tells Peter “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (John 21:18) He fortold of Peter’s own death on a cross that was to come. Basically Jesus told Peter – “Follow me, go feed my sheep, and by the way – it’s going to cost you your life.”
Well, Peter quickly turns to look at the Apostle John, and asks Jesus “Lord, what about this man?” (John 21:21) Or, “What about John? Is he going to be crucified as well? Is it going to cost him his life to follow you like it will me?”
Look at Jesus’ response “Jesus said to him, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!'” (John 21:22)
Jesus told Peter, “You don’t worry about him or what I do with his life. You just worry about YOURSELF and FOLLOW ME! No matter what it costs!”
Too often we gauge our life as a Christian by the lives of others. We say, “Well, how come he has lots of money and it’s not costing him so much to be a Christian?” “How come this person lost their wife or child when they started following Jesus?” “How come this person was made famous and got to preach to large crowds, and I don’t get to do that?”
We have to realize and understand God is Almighty, Sovereign God, and His way is PERFECT no matter what it cost. He doesn’t have the same plan for everyone’s life. We simply need to FOLLOW as close to our Lord and Saviour as we can by obeying His commandments, reading His Word, talking with Him in prayer, and letting Him lead us down the path HE HAS CHOSEN for us!”
Jesus command to us is simple: “FOLLOW ME!” We must let Him worry about when, where, and how.