Mind Your Own Business

April 19

Read: John 21:20-25

Mind Your Own Business

“Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” (v.22)

“Mind your own business.” I am sure we have all heard this phrase at some point in our lives. Normally it is not a “nice” thing say. Maybe you have been told “quit being nosey” or simply “stay out of it!” Peter had just learned from Jesus about how his life would end:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (v.18)

In that moment, Peter looks over at John and asks, “What about that guy?” It is a natural, human question to ask. We look around us at others all the time… comparing ourselves to others… considering their story to our own. It is fascinating that when Paul talks about sin being awakened buy the law within him, he uses coveting as the specific example:

“Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness.” (Rom. 7:7,8)

Looking at what others having… wanting what others have… wondering what story God is writing for them… this is a normal fleshly response. When Peter heard that he would end his life as a martyr, he began to think, “well wait! what about that guy?!” Jesus asks him, “what is that to you?” (v.22) When we face trials, difficulty, or basic bad news, the temptation is to look at others or compare our lives to others and say, “wait a minute! What about them? Are they going to have to go through something tough as well?” Or maybe more often than not it is this:

“Hey God! Why to they get the easy life and I have to deal with this?” Jesus knows the danger in this thinking and the way that it robs us of joy and growth. Jesus’ retort to Peter is swift but GOOD. Here is the TRUTH:

No one else gets to live out the story God has written for your life but YOU. Your story is your own, and not the same as anyone else’s. When faced with trials or the threat of bad news, know that EVERYONE has their turn. But more importantly know that Christ is with YOU and he is asking you to FOLLOW him instead of be worried about someone else. This is exactly what he tells Peter: “You follow me”. Comparison is truly the thief of all joy… and it is a fools errand to fight against God’s plan for you. Notice how this interchange started a rumor! (cf. v.23) Even the disciples in the ancient world had to deal with gossip… and they didn’t even have social media!

We can never FULLY see how God is weaving his plan together through ALL of his people. He brings us into bits and pieces of the story, and yet how exactly he works “ALL things together” is more than we can grasp! The final words of the book of John say this:

“Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (v.25)

As followers of Jesus we trust HIS plan and work as KING. He is calling us to “follow him”. We need not look left or look right but rather ahead towards him. Let us not be distracted by jealousy or coveting what others have… overly worried about someone else’s destiny. May we celebrate with others as we hear what God is doing in their lives, yet never become discouraged or robbed of what God has for us. Even if we hear that there are tough times ahead - like Peter did - may we fight the temptation to moan “what about that guy?!” but instead find hope in the fact that Christ is WITH US and we are following him into the battle. I bet one thing that we will do on the new earth during eternity is hear more of the countless stories of what Jesus has done… he will tell them to us… or the people that we meet with share them… all those accounts that could not be held by a world of books! For - Jesus says to us: “Don't worry about them… you follow me!” Love you guys! - JDP