Thursday, August 19, 2010

Enough with the Comparisons!

Scripture Verses that caught my attention today: John 21:20-23 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!” 23 So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”

Observation: Peter wanted to focus or be overly concerned about how Jesus was going to treat someone else. Jesus shut that option down and told Peter to pay attention to himself and his own call to follow Jesus.

Application:
Comparisons. We all like comparisons. Especially if those comparisons help us to prop ourselves up in one way or another. We often subliminally observe “well, I’m not as good as so and so but at least I’m better than ____________.” As a parent of three it is not uncommon to see them comparing one another or making special note of who has the most ‘chores.’ One of the little things that often riles me up a touch is when I might ask one of our children to do something and the first response is a gasp quickly followed by something like, ‘well you didn’t make so and so do that…I’ve done such and such for the last three days in a row…etc.” Ahhhh!

And that’s pretty much what Peter said too. Jesus had given Peter a very special call and right away Peter wanted to compare his own call to someone else’s call. Jesus would have none of it! Instead he points out that this is none of Peter’s business and, besides, Peter should focus on his own call. The importance of focusing on his own call is highlighted with the use of an exclamation point. The directive for Peter to follow is emphatic.

Even as adults it’s easy to spend wasted moments comparing ourselves to others rather than simply focusing on the opportunities before us. In fact, sometimes about the only difference between children and adults is that as adults we sometimes have an increased ability to mask the fact that we are still drawing comparisons and crying foul. Jesus does not seem to find honor in such things and, instead, beckons even emphatically that we might simply embrace the opportunities, even if difficult, before us.

Prayer: Thanks Lord, once again, for the reminder to be content and thankful for my own life and the various opportunities before me to follow you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Scripture Readings for today included: Jeremiah 45-47, Psalm 105 and John 21)

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