"But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil.3:13-14)
"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)
These are Jesus' last recorded words in the Gospel of John. Jesus had just revealed to Peter that he will one day die a martyr's death, but in response, Peter looks at John and asks Jesus, "what about him?" Jesus' simple but profound answer: don't worry about him--"You follow Me."
What a picture of our human nature, is it not? How prone we are to compare! And nothing good ever comes out of comparisons. Either we become puffed up with pride because we figure we're doing better than so and so or we fall prey to discouragement or envy because we assume we faring a bit worse.
I've shared it innumerable times, but one of my very favorite quotes is from Mother Teresa: "All our troubles come from looking around rather than up." Jesus tells Peter--and us--stop looking around at John or anybody else. Just look up. Follow Me.
That's what it means to be a Christian--"to be a Christ follower." We don't need to compare ourselves to Sally Supersaint or Nancy Ne're-do-well. We need to stop worrying about what others are doing or not doing--we simply need to follow Jesus. He's our model. He's our guide. He's our inspiration. And He's our Savior and Enabler. It's time we heed the words of Hebrews 12: stop looking around and start looking up and "fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith."
When we follow another person or when we compare ourselves to anyone else, we're bound to grow discouraged, distracted, or discontented. But when we follow Jesus, we'll find joy for our journey, strength for our souls, and peace for our perplexities.
O brother, how prone we (or I) can be to forget this! How easily we can slide into deadly comparisons and the accompanying stupor of either pride or discouragement. But following Jesus never fails to bring encouragement, hope, purpose, peace, and joy. And He is the only One with the power that enables us to actually follow Him in obedience. All those lesser little gods of comparison we tend to run after--they never give, only take. Never empower only diminish.
So today, might we rejoice in our Savior who is leading the way and beckoning us to "Follow Me." O Lord Jesus, help us to press on toward the goal of following and loving You so that we might jettison our preoccupation with all lesser, inferior, and empty substitutes.
Keep us fixed and following Jesus. To God be the glory.
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