What about this man?

One of the things I like so much about the men Jesus chose as His disciples is how very much like me they are. They believe Jesus is Lord yet they don't always act as though they believe. Sometimes they have doubts. At times they get angry or sad or afraid but they do keep looking to Jesus.

I think I like Peter best of all. Maybe that's because I know more about Peter. He seems to me so ordinary. He often speaks without thinking; sometimes good things, sometimes not. He is impetuous and bold yet has a sensitive heart. He makes mistakes but is teachable and can learn from those mistakes.

The thing I think makes him most like me is right here at the end of John. The disciples have been out fishing when they encounter Jesus at the shore. They have breakfast together and Jesus commissions Peter with the charge to "feed My lambs" and "tend My sheep" and "feed my sheep".  Then he tells Peter, "Follow Me." John 21:15-19

"Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them... When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, 'Lord, what about this man?' " John 21:20-21 Now maybe Peter had a concern for John because he was not included in the commission Peter had just received and he wanted to be sure Jesus included him.

Or perhaps he was concerned that John might get a bigger or better commission. After all, John was the disciple Jesus loved. John's mama had gone to Jesus asking that her boys, James and John, be seated at places of honor in Jesus' kingdom. Matthew 20:21

How often am I  like that? Rather than being faithful to what God asks me to do I look at others and ask what about him or her or them? I take my eyes off my personal commission and compare myself to others. I wonder why their calling seems bigger or better or radically different than mine. Or maybe I get smug and prideful as I look at what God is doing for or through me and think I'm somehow better.

Jesus' answer to Peter applies to me today. "If it is my will that he [fill in the blank], what is that to you? YOU follow me!"  What Jesus asks of me may not look like what Jesus asks of someone else. The question I need to answer is will I be faithful to follow Jesus wherever He leads me?