Our Main Focus.
John 21:22 - Jesus said to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me."
John 21:23 - Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?"
Take Note here in 2 verses back to back Jesus told Peter this key part > what is that to you?
In other words it’s none of our business what others do; our main focus should be on Jesus Christ and no one else.
Read the rest…….
When a person has settled the matter of death, then he is ready to live and to serve!
Our Lord’s words, “Follow me!” must have brought new joy and love to Peter’s heart. Literally, Jesus said, “Keep on following me.” Immediately, Peter began to follow Jesus, just as he had done before his great denial. However, for a moment Peter took his eyes off the Lord Jesus, a mistake he had made at least two other times.
After that first great catch of fish, Peter took his eyes off his Lord and looked at himself. “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). When he was walking on the stormy sea with Jesus, Peter looked away from the Lord and began to look at the wind and waves, and immediately he began to sink (Matt. 14:30). It is dangerous to look at the circumstances instead of looking to the Lord.
Why did Peter look away from his Lord and start to look back? He heard somebody walking behind him. It was the apostle John, who was also following Jesus Christ. Peter did a foolish thing and asked Jesus, “What shall this man do?” In other words, “Lord, you just told me what will happen to me; now, what will happen to John?”
The Lord rebuked Peter and reminded him that his job was to follow, not to meddle into the lives of other believers. Beware when you get your eyes off the Lord and start to look at other Christians! “Looking unto Jesus” should be the aim and practice of every believer (Heb. 12:1–2). To be distracted by ourselves, our circumstances, or by other Christians is to disobey the Lord and possibly get detoured out of the will of God. Keep your eyes of faith on Him and on Him alone.
This does not mean that we ignore others, don’t get me wrong, because we do have the responsibility of caring for one another, we should pray for one another (Phil. 2:1–4). Rather, it means that we must not permit our curiosity about others to distract us from following the Lord. God has His plan for us; He also has plans for our Christian friends and associates. How He works in their lives is His business. Our business is to follow Him as He leads us (see Rom.
I was just reminded of this fact when I went to examine myself in prayer and going through this period of worrying about other peoples business, when in fact my main focus should have been placed on Jesus Christ and him alone. We are to be shameful to worry about other peoples business or what they are doing or to even listen to such silly gossip about them or others.
Another fact is we should not bicker and fight of such things or to hold grudges against one another, woe to us, woe to me. This really is a sad state if we believers fall into this trap and that pit, shame on us.
The main focus and our eyes should be place squarely on Jesus Christ and forget about the other things that pull our eyes away from Jesus. But the Lord tenderly rebuked me with, “What is that to thee? Follow thou me.” And what is that to you?
It was just the message I needed, and the rest of us should heed to this rebuke from our Lord Jesus Christ. Shame on us for such petty things and looking at others, yes I am preaching to myself on this and other should do the same to themselves.
More problems are caused by confused saints than by lost sinners! Misinterpreting the Word of God only creates misunderstanding about God’s people and God’s plans for His people.
(Remember, witness is a key theme in the gospel of John. The word is used forty-seven times.) So we should be doing the same instead of focusing on such petty things of what others do or what they should be doing, or what we say about each other. We should be putting our eyes on Jesus Christ himself and not what they are doing.
Remember, Jesus Christ is transforming lives today. Wherever He finds a believer who is willing to yield to His will, listen to His Word, and follow His way, He begins to transform that believer and accomplish remarkable things in that life. He also begins to do wonderful things through that life.
