I have always enjoyed walking down pathways and trails in the woods to take in the beauty of nature. When I was a young boy, my brother and I practically lived in the woods behind our house. We were the ones who made many of the pathways. Some paths in the woods look heavily traveled, while some are overgrown and for whatever reason, avoided. Some paths are narrow and others wide enough for bikes or even vehicles. Pathways remind us of our own paths we must go down in life. You are on a pathway right now. We often cross paths with others, some only for a short time and some for many years, but you still have your own path to go on. A good question to ask is, are you on the right path? Are you more focused on someone else’s path than your own? What happens when you get off your path? This was something Jesus addressed with each of His followers, but especially with Peter.
John 21:20-22 “Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” 21 Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what [about] this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what [is that] to you? You follow Me.”
We are more like Peter than we want to admit. Peter was strong and independent, but he was also one who took notice of other men, especially men who walked in the faith. Just before this correction in Peter’s pathway, Peter had really gone off on his own path. Jesus had warned him not to follow before he was arrested in the garden, but Peter decided he knew better. Disobedience always causes us to stray off the pathway God has for us, while at other times we wander off because of arrogance or the luring of the world. We can only wonder what it was that caused Peter to look at John and ask, “But Lord, what about this man?” Maybe Peter saw John as someone who always had it together spiritually, but we don’t know. What we do know is that Jesus didn’t want Peter to concern himself with John’s path. He wanted Peter to focus on following Him and Him alone.
Let me ask you, are you focusing more on someone else’s path than your own? If so, you can easily go off course. It’s dangerous to get off of God’s approved and ordained path for your life. What is outside of God’s pathway for your life? It’s the wilderness! So whatever you do, stay on God’s pathway for your life.
