Why Follow Jesus

"Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who had been reclining at table close to him and had said, 'Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?' When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, 'Lord, what about this man?' Jesus said to him, 'If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!'" (John 21:20-22, ESV.)

After Peter denied His Savior three times, we read in some verses before the text above that Jesus gave him the opportunity to express his love for Him also three times.

Then, Peter noticed John. 

Who is John? 

He wrote the Book of John. He referred to himself as "the one whom Jesus loved" (John 20:2). During His last supper with His disciples, when Jesus said that one of them would betray Him, John asked: "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?" When Jesus was hanging on the cross, He entrusted His mother to John (John 19:26-27).

After Peter acknowledged his love for Jesus, He told him: "Follow me" (John 21:19). And in verse 20, we read in part: "Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them..."

Peter saw that John was also following them. 

How about us? As Jesus instructed Peter to follow Him, John also followed them. 

If we also feel that Jesus loved us, our tendency would be to follow Him. John did follow Him, though Jesus did not directly tell him to do so. 

But, let's be sure that we follow the real Jesus who really loved us. The One who chose us, so that we could choose Him. The One who loved us, so we could also love Him. The One who died not just for everyone, but for all His sheep -- for the special people whom God the Father gave to Him. The One who prays for and guards His followers, so that not one of those He chose and He died for will be lost.

And if we also follow the real Jesus, take note His reply to Peter:

"If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!" 

As we follow the Biblical Christ, we have to resign to the Wisdom of His Will. We have to pursue Him wherever He leads us. We should trust Him that whatever He will do to us is for our good, for He loved us. And it should not be our concern or even the concern of others on what He would do to us. 

Our only concern is to follow Him, who loved us and whom we learn also to love -- not just any Jesus, but the One followed by John, Peter and the other apostles.

The Elector Who Makes His "Candidates" Win

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:3-5, ESV).

God chose us in Christ – the believers in Christ – not when we began to change our life, not during our birth, but “before the foundation of the world”!

In other words, if we have faith now in Jesus Christ as our Savior, we have faith not because we just decide or choose by our own selves. It is God who chose us even before our birth – yes, before the creation of the world. Before we have our consciousness, before we could choose what is desirable or not, God chose or elected us to be “in Him” – to belong to Him as holy and blameless adopted children, to have faith in the Son.

On our own, we were spiritually dead to will or decide or choose to believe in Him. But, because of His mercy, He elected us long before that He would enable us to have the faith.

As God could create something out of nothing, He could also make those whom He elected to win.

We chose to have faith in Jesus or we decide to follow and be in Him, because God had first chosen us to belong to Him and be adopted as His children. And to have that position is more glorious than to win in any elective position on this earth!

Praise the Sovereign Elector who chose us to be in that position -- to be "in Him" and granted us the victory!