August 19 - Lord, What About Him

 Read today’s texts first: Jeremiah 45-47; Psalms 105; John 21

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

 God’s Master Plan for the whole world
includes a very personalized plan just for you!

Two days ago we pointed out how personal our God is. While slowly and painfully dying for the sins of all mankind, Jesus thought of the needs of His widowed mother. Today we read, after His resurrection, with limited time to start up the first church before His ascension, Jesus was still focusing on one person at a time. This personal approach defies all the business and time management techniques I’ve learned over the years. Maximize your opportunities, work in groups, develop teams, especially if you plan on growing a large organization.

Jesus was launching a massive global strategy of taking the gospel of the Kingdom to every nation. And yet He still spent precious moments with individuals. In this closing chapter of John, where you would expect a grand conclusion to Christ’s mission on earth, we read about His tender exchanges with Peter and John himself. After Peter hears about his assignment as a shepherd and of his eventual martyrdom, he looks at John and says, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me” (21:21,22).

Yes, God has a master plan for the entire world. We can see from our readings in Jeremiah today, He also has plans for each nation. But it is also within His unlimited capacity to have plans for each of the 7 plus billion people on planet earth right now. Just as our brain controls trillions of individual cells in our body, the Creator of that complex design can surely direct each one of us.

We like to compare our lives to others. We tend to dismiss those who seem to have less and covet those who have more, whether it is money, fame, power, or more noble quality of life issues like a bigger or better family or ministry. But Jesus is saying to you and to me, “what is that to you? You must follow me!”

“Lord, I must stop looking to other people and comparing my life to theirs. Today I look to You. I am following You alone and Your plans for my life!”