What is it to you? You follow Me!

After Jesus had risen from the dead and had been seen twice by His disciples, He met with them on the beach. He ate breakfast with them and then took Peter aside. He told Peter that if he truly loved Him, he would feed His sheep (John 21:15-19). He gave Peter a commission to serve Him and make disciples for Him. When He had given Peter this commission, He took Peter from the rest of the disciples and walked down the beach alone with him. As they walked down Peter looked back and saw Jesus’ beloved disciples, John, following them and he asked Jesus “But Lord, what about this man?” (John 21:21) Jesus replied, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” (John 21:22) Jesus wasn’t saying that this disciple would live forever (John 21:23), He was telling Peter not to worry about what other people were going to be doing, but rather to do what he was told to do, which was to follow Jesus.

Often times we have the same mindset as Peter. We wonder what everyone else has been given to do for Jesus, not what we have been given to do. Like Peter we ask God, “What about them?” Jesus will always reply, “Don’t worry about them, you follow Me.” Don’t look at the actions of others; look at your own actions. Are you following God and living your life for Him? It doesn’t matter what task your brother or sister was given to do, but what you were given to do.

This passage reminds me of what Aslan tells many of the characters in the books “The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis. If you have ever read “The Chronicles of Narnia” you would know that the Lion, Aslan, represents Jesus Christ. Several times in the books we see someone ask Aslan to tell them about someone else, what will happen to them, what they should be doing, etc., and Alsan always replies, “I am not telling you their story, I am telling you your story.” God doesn’t tell us what other people were created to do; He tells us what we were created to do. He gives us a special commission and doesn’t want us to worry about what everyone else is doing.

Next time you wonder if your brother or sister is doing the right thing, or serving God in the right way, remember that God gave you a commission, and you shouldn’t worry about everyone else’s job. What is it to us what they are doing? We follow God.