Don't Compare!
Opening Prayer
Lord God, open my mind to learn and obey whatever You choose to teach me from Your Word today.
Read John 21:20-25
[20] Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) [21] When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” [22] Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” [23] Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” [24] This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. [25] Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
How did Jesus' reply challenge Peter?Like many of us, Peter is not content simply to know how Jesus is calling him; he also wants to know what is going to happen to others. Rather than staying focused on Jesus, Peter turns to the other (or beloved) disciple, and asks for an update on him. I love Jesus’ response in verse 22. Rather than answering Peter’s question, Jesus simply responds with a challenge. It’s a personal challenge, a command with a clear objective: YOU MUST FOLLOW ME! It can be so easy to make ourselves feel better about our situation or even our own failings by comparing ourselves to each other. Yet Jesus reminds us here that it has nothing to do with how we compare to each other, but everything to do with how we compare to him. We are to follow Jesus, be more like him, and go where he leads us! Compared to each other we might be doing really well, but compared to Jesus…it’s probably a very different story! As we see with Peter, Jesus is not interested in comparison. His call is simple: “You must follow me!”
Apply
How are you doing in following Jesus at the moment? Spend some time committing afresh to follow him this day.
Closing prayer
Lord, I don’t want to compare myself or my situation to anyone but You. I want to follow You better.
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