John 21:18-19
¹⁸”Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.”¹⁹This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”
The English word follow means to assist/ accompany. The Greek word akoloutheō means to accompany.
To say I follow Christ is quite easy but your statement of devotion is approved by your determination to stay And keep following regardless of what!!
Notice that before Peter and the other disciples are refocused to follow Jesus by Jesus Himself, for they had withdrawn when Jesus was arrested ( Mark 14:27,50 ) and when he taught the “complicated un bearable message” many stopped following (John 6:66), Peter had formerly denied Jesus, thus bringing us to a question, are you a devoted follower or are you just tagging along? When things become tight on the side you claim to follow, or would you quit to follow! A follower sticks by regardless of the situation till the end!!
Peter had just been told of how his life will end, how he will end up in chains, utterly helpless because of Christ, but still Jesus asks Him to follow Him even after that unpleasant prophecy. This implies we ought to follow Jesus regardless of what may come our way, persist to learn from Him, persist to teach His word and preach it regardless of the resistance, and cling to Him. That is the real deal of following Jesus.
Luke 9:60-62
⁶⁰Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” ⁶²But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Many times Jesus met different people and required them to follow Him; following Jesus may require you to let go of certain things and focus entirely on Him for this He said to Peter and group: follow me and I will make you fishers of men ( Matthew 4:19), Mathew also as a tax collector followed plus Phillip among others, and to another he said; follow me and let the dead burry their own dead!!, implication is that once you have decided to follow Jesus, put everything else behind You, turn not back, allow no distractions and follow (Matthew 8:22), it is to carry your cross as he did his, knowing the life that He lived you live, where he was accepted by some but rejected by others, it is to confirm your life wholly to his example in living and if need be death.
Follow me, doesn’t end on believing Jesus but to join Him and engage with him in ministry, have more of Him, less of You, His Life your life.
Prophetic Utterance:
“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”
Guiding Text:
John 12:26 KJV
If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
(Your only business as. Christian is to follow Jesus, for this reason Jesus tells Peter to mind His own business regards Johns fate, your journey is your journey, when you fix on other people’s journeys , you may end up diverting or in a state of comparison to failure, focus on your devotion, focus on your mission, focus on your goal, focus on Jesus, He knows the story , the ending, He leads the way..)
Matthew 19:21
21 “If you want to be perfect,” Jesus said to him, “go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”