John 21:22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me.
You Follow Your Focus
My sixteen-year-old is currently working on getting his driver’s license, and that means he has many hours of driving ahead before he can be officially certified as a Tennessee driver with all its rights, privileges, and responsibilities. One of the things I was pointing out to him recently was that you are going to follow your focus. You need to pay attention to what is down the road, not what is on the side of the road or out in left field. You must look at what is ahead because inevitably, without even trying, your vehicle will follow your eyes; you will follow your focus.
Sports is another example of the importance of focus. Have you ever watched an NFL quarterback who gets sacked? He has three hundred pounds of linemen on him, his body is pinned to the turf, yet his neck is strained and his eyes are like lasers focused on the target of his recent pass. He is following through on his pass even after he has been sacked.
It is a basic law of life that you will follow your focus. So where is your focus? This is mighty important.
Jesus impressed the importance of one’s focus upon Peter. Peter loved the LORD, but he had had a lapse. He had denied Jesus, but Jesus returned with the same invitation and command that He had given when they first met. In John 21 he says to Peter, “Follow me.” Verses 20-21 say, “Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved…[and] saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?” Peter was concerned about John because Jesus had just indicated that Peter would die for the cause of Christ.
When Jesus had told Peter that Peter would eventually die for Him, Peter must have thought, “This isn’t right. What about John?” Jesus replies in verse 22, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.” In other words, Jesus says, “That’s not yours to worry about. If I want to keep John here till My return, what is that to you? Just follow me.”
You are going to follow your focus. If you are concerned about everyone else or if you are inordinately concerned about your own self and your own rights, both of which contributed to Peter’s response, then you are going to be trailing in the wrong direction. It is so easy for us to worry about what is fair.
Youngsters have an innate sense of what is fair, at least when it comes to their own selves, and I have discovered as an adult that I am really no different. Thank God that life is not fair. God doesn’t respond to us with equity; He gives us grace. You don’t always know the facts. When you look at other people, you aren’t getting the whole picture; you don’t know the facts as you think you do.
God loves you more than you love yourself, and that is saying something. God knows you better than you know yourself, and that is remarkable. God will do what is right.
Don’t worry about what is fair or unfair. When it comes to other people, because you don’t really know their stresses, their burdens, or how good or bad things really are for them. What you do know is that God knows you, that He is good, and that you will follow whatever it is you focus on.