"Follow Me"
Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow, til thou hast denied me thrice.
John 13: 36-38.
Peter told Jesus that he was willing to lay down his life for Him. Peter spoke these words hoping to persuade Jesus into changing His mind. You see, Jesus had just let Peter know that he wouldn’t be able to follow where He was going.
But Peter wanted Jesus to know how dedicated he was to Him. Therefore he said, "I will lay down my life for you."
Well, as we know, Jesus didn’t change His mind. Instead He told Peter that before the cock crowed, he would deny Him three times. Peter was shocked. That was the total opposite of what he was feeling right then. But it was the truth.
Has Jesus called you to do something great, like lay down your life for Him? Has He called you to be the perfect example of sinlessness, humility or mountain moving faith? Has He called you to demonstrate His power by casting out every kind of demon and breaking every kind of bondage? Or does He simply want you to follow Him?
You see, we cannot equate great acts of faith with following Jesus, because we don’t know where Jesus is leading us. Following Jesus is never what we expect it to be. It is always surprising, mysterious and unpredictable.
Following Jesus prepares us for whatever He has for us to do. If it is die for Him, then following Him will us there. It is not necessary to make promises or seek an opportunity to prove yourself. When Jesus asked you to follow Him, it was all His idea from the start. Wasn’t it?
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ Philippians1: 6.
By: Edmund Brown