Thursday, July 17, 2008

“What about him?”

After Jesus was raised from the dead, He appeared to the disciples on a few occasions. After breakfast on one of those days, Jesus and Peter had an interesting conversation (John 21:15-22). Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him 3 times. Each time, Peter immediately answered, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love you.” After Peter’s response, Jesus gave him ways that Peter’s love should be lived out (ie. “Feed My lambs, Tend My sheep, Feed My sheep”).
Then, however, Jesus totally changes the conversation and gives an explanation of how Peter would be martyred. Jesus concludes with, “Follow Me.”
You would think that the same disciple who had been following Jesus all this time, witnessing miracles, observed his death & resurrection would whole heartedly say, “I’ll DEFINITELY follow you.” But no, he looked around and saw John walking by and said, “But Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”
When I first read this, I was so convicted because I am so much like Peter.
God has given me my own ways that I must suffer for His glory and I have to constantly fight to not have a, “But what about him” attitude.
So, over the next few blogs, I will try to write about the 10 pitfalls of having a “What about him” attitude. The first one is below.

Pitfall #1: We take our eyes off our Savior.
Hebrews 12:2 tells us to, “Look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” Once we start looking around, our focus gets off Jesus and we start focusing on our trials & on others. Peter had total trust in the Lord to step out of a boat and walk on water to get to Jesus (Matthew 14:28-31). However, as soon as Peter took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the wind, he was afraid and began to sink. Jesus then told him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Only looking toward Jesus will we find the strength, hope, & peace to follow Him and trust Him beyond our difficult circumstances.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

How did I get to this page? HE GOT ME HERE. What about him? Lord I am struggling more than any time in my life. Why are you doing what you are doing in my life. It hurts. Keep your eyes on me. Not others and not the circumstances. Thats the only way I can use you.
Caryn, God bless you abundantly