“Peter seeing him (John) saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.” (John 21:21-22)
Peter had been in conversation with Jesus concerning his love for Christ; as to what he was to do for Christ henceforward; and how Peter would die. Immediately Peter turned to the Apostle John, “whom Jesus loved” (John 21:20); Peter asked, “Lord, and what shall this man do?”
Peter had another lesson to learn in serving Christ.
The lesson Peter had to learn was that God’s Call and Plan of Service is individual; meaning God has a plan and a purpose for each of His Called Men of God.
What Peter (and all of us that have been called to serve Christ) must do is:
- Not worry about any other servant of Christ, as to his pathway;
- Learn to “follow Christ” without worry of any other servant of God.
To put it bluntly, “Peter, you don’t need to worry about anyone but yourself. You need to tend to your call. Keep your eyes on Me and not on any man. Man did not save you; man did not call you; and man cannot sustain you.”
Called Man of God, here Christ revealed the only way of success as His Servant; and that is to stay focused on Him and His Commands to you.
Peter had just been told he would die the death of crucifixion for the Lord’s Name Sake. That is, he was going to die a martyr’s death.
Our flesh automatically rebels at suffering. Our flesh has been and shall always be against the Spirit and the ways of Righteousness. The flesh’s number one goal is to protect and satisfy self above anything else. The flesh is a deceiver. It will always lead you to unbelief of the truth; and to depend upon carnal reasoning, and not spiritual discernment (Romans 7:15-24).
It was Peter’s flesh that was speaking to Christ, questioning what was going to happen to John. Peter said in effect, “If I am going to have to die for You, what is going to happen to John?”
Called Man of God, this problem must be dealt with immediately, before you start your serving journey. You must learn early, that looking back or even looking to others, will cause you to stumble; and not allow you to taste victory, but defeat. It can cause jealousy, even the root of bitterness, to spring up in your spirit, and cause you to suffer defeat, and be defiled.
It is a very difficult school which you, as a Man of God, must graduate from; if you are going to have Christ as your sole Reason for serving. If you are going to work out God’s Purpose for you, your relationship must be solely with God and not with any man; nor can you be distracted by what you must endure for Christ’s sake in comparison to any other Man of God.
Peter’s statement revealed his lack of:
- Complete Surrender to God as the Sovereign Planner for his life;
- Complete Submission to the Word of God; that it is His Word of Command to him;
- Complete Obedience without distraction.
In the final analysis, God is not going to judge how you view others; but how you viewed God and your relationship to Him, and your obedience to Him. You will be judged on your works of faith, not on someone else’s works.
What Peter had to do, and what we must do, to please God and to be conformed to His Image, is to know God’s calling for us and to set our heart to serve Him with our entire being (body, soul, and spirit) in His Revealed Call, regardless of anything or anyone
God has one plan for Peter and one plan for you; and so it is with each of His Servants.
Therefore, it is our duty to turn from all men, and from all things and circumstances; and commit our all, by His Power, to accomplish His Purpose for us in His Kingdom’s Work. Then and only then, will we have Power to perform and to endure; Peace even unto death; and Praise to Him for using us to bring Honor and Glory to His Name among men.
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