You Follow Me

The WORD today (see http://usccb.org/bible/readings/051813.cfm) reminds me that I should just focus on Jesus as I do his work.

It is true that no man is an island. We are all related to each other, connected to each other, and dependent on each other. However, this sometimes results to us thinking about other people too much, comparing ourselves with other people, focusing on what other people have that we don’t. This is what Jesus did not like about Peter in today’s gospel. See excerpt…

When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”
Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come?
What concern is it of yours? You follow me.”

Jesus wants us to just follow him, to just focus on him as we serve and work for Him. He does not want us to compare ourselves with other people and ask – why do I not have this? Why is he gifted with this, but not me? Why can he do this, but not me? Why does he have all the things I want? Why is he so happy and blessed? These things will distract us because it will put the focus on ourselves, rather than God. If we compare ourselves with other people, we will focus on things we do not have, on things that we want for ourselves, instead of focusing on God and devoting our time and energy to build God’s kingdom.

“You follow me. Do not focus on other things, on other people.” We see a perfect example on focusing on God in the first reading. Saint Paul was imprisoned, but he did not focus on himself or on his situation. He did not feel sorry for himself, he did not pity himself, he did not get mad at God for what is happening to him. It’s hard, but he kept his focus on God. The situation did not dampen his spirit, and did not weaken his faith. He continued to focus on God as he worked for God.

May we always put our focus on God, not on other people, not on other things.

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for this brand new day to rest and spend time with people I love. Lord, I pray that I be able to use this day to rest and recharge as I continue to work for you. As I work for you, may I be like Saint Paul who continued to focus on you despite the situation he was in. I know serving you is not easy – there will be a lot of challenges, persecutions and hurts, but I pray that I may not focus on these things. May I always heed your call to just focus on you and follow you. Amen.

Blessed weekend!

In Christ,

-g-