I heard a great sermon today from John 21:20-23. In the text, Jesus has finished telling Peter how he will glorify God by dying as a martyr. Peter then proceeds to do what he does best– namely, put his big foot in his bigger mouth– by asking Jesus, “Well, what about John?”

The gist is that Jesus tells Peter not to worry about John. He says, “You follow me.”

I wonder how many special moments in my own life have been ruined by me comparing them to other people’s experiences. I probably spend way too much time focused on how others think of me or how they seem to have more than me or how my spirituality compares to theirs.

I think Theodore Roosevelt is the one that said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”

You can ruin a good moment by comparing it to a seemingly better one. You can mess up a compliment from a friend by comparing it to the compliment he or she gave to someone else.

I think the words of Jesus ring just as true for me as for Peter. I need to be so consumed in following Jesus that I don’t have time to compare my walk, my body, my mind, or anything else with anybody else.

Easier said than done. Every ad from every kind of media source feeds off of of a deep-seated competitive nature of ours and wants buy any number of things to keep up with the Joneses or whoever else we may be comparing ourselves with.

I think for me the only kind of healthy comparison is with myself. Can I be more like Jesus today than I was yesterday? Can I be more patient and understanding than I was last week? Can I love my neighbor as myself better than I did last month?

Once you and I fully realize that the approval we seek can’t be earned from others but only given by God, then the downward pull of comparison has no more power over us. God’s approval comes to those made in His image who have placed all their hopes and trust and faith in Jesus.

Contentment, not comparison, is what brings true joy.

I took in the annual Main Street Festival in Historic Downtown Franklin. And I walked. And walked. And walked. And walked.

I parked at The Factory and walked the rest of the way. I walked all the way from one end of the Festival to the other at least two or three times.

I believe I ended up with very close to 20,000 steps. I think a couple laps around the house may get me there. Or maybe a few trips to and from the bathroom.

Apparently, a good time was had by all.

I saw lots of people milling about and taking it all in. There were booths with crafts and food and all sorts of fun stuff.  There were families and couples, young and old, adults and kids, and lots and lots of dogs. Dogs everywhere. I had to restrain myself from attempting to pet all the dogs.

I myself had some iced fruit tea, a redneck burrito from Puckett’s (and which I highly recommend if you like barbecue), and a rather obscenely large chocolate chip cookie (heated, of course).

I bought some local honey from Early’s Honey Stand located in that quaint little building just as you enter downtown Franklin.

Aside from the fact that people, especially the ones in front of me, do tend to walk at a snail’s pace, it was a good day. Then again, I do tend to be a fast walker, so there’s that.

There was a Journey tribute band called Faithfully that I caught snippets of. The lead singer tried valiantly, but was no Steve Perry. Some of the high notes were painfully off. Maybe he was having an off day vocally. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt this time.

All in all, I’d classify this as a good day.

I have an update. I still have my Jeep. It’s still not fixed yet and technically, it may be considered a junker, but it’s still mine.

To me, value was more than monetary anyway. Memories outweigh monetary value any day of the week. And there are lots of memories associated with that red car.

Thanks for all the support and prayers. It still seems silly to get sentimental over a vehicle and to ask for prayers for it, but I do believe the same God who knows the number of hairs on our heads wants us to bring Him every little thing.

So my Red Sled Adventures will continue.

I think this says it all for me on this Wednesday, April 25, 2018.

^” I haven’t stopped thanking Him for you. I am continually speaking to Him on your behalf in my prayers. Here’s what I say:

Friends, it is this same might and resurrection power that He used in the Anointed One to raise Him from the dead and to position Him at His right hand in heaven. There is nothing over Him. He’s above all rule, authority, power, and dominion; over every name invoked, over every title bestowed in this age and the next. God has placed all things beneath His feet and anointed Him as the head over all things for His church. This church is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:16-23, The Voice).

May you know just as surely as the sun rises in the East that through the power of the cross and the resurrection that you are no longer misfits and nobodies but God’s masterpiece and His inheritance.

May you receive in Christ all that God has for you and know to the depths of your souls this power that raised Jesus from the dead and that now dwells in you through the Holy Spirit.

May you know that God’s approval is already yours in Christ and that the victory is already won.

Amen.