Most of us would never take a pair of scissors to the Bible and physically remove the parts of Jesus we don’t like. But we can accomplish something surprisingly similar without cutting a single page.

We follow Jesus where He agrees with us.

Love your neighbor? Absolutely—depending on who we consider our neighbor. Care for people in need? Of course—as long as the cost feels reasonable. Trust Jesus with our future? Yes—until His direction begins interfering with the future we’ve already planned.

In Mark 8, Peter discovers just how easy it is to follow a version of Jesus we’ve constructed for ourselves.

Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Peter gives the right answer: “You are the Messiah.”

But Peter understands just enough about Jesus to become dangerously confident that he understands everything. When Jesus explains that being the Messiah will involve suffering, rejection, and death, Peter actually rebukes Him.

Peter wants Jesus to be King. He just has some strong opinions about how the King should run His Kingdom.

That probably sounds more familiar than we’d like to admit.

We want Jesus to lead us toward security, success, comfort, influence, healthy relationships, and plans that work. None of those things are inherently wrong. They just make terrible kings.

Eventually, following Jesus means allowing Him to lead us somewhere we wouldn’t have chosen ourselves.

That’s why Jesus’ response to Peter is so important: “Get behind me.”

It’s a rebuke, but it’s also an invitation. Jesus doesn’t tell Peter to go away. He tells Peter to return to the proper position of a disciple. Peter has subtly moved from following Jesus to trying to lead Him.

We do the same whenever we ask Jesus to bless a life we’ve already designed rather than surrendering our lives to His direction.

Maybe we’re trying to hurry His timeline. Maybe we’re resisting something we know obedience will cost us. Maybe we’ve become skilled at explaining why Jesus couldn’t possibly mean what He seems to be saying.

The question isn’t whether we understand everything Jesus is doing. Peter certainly didn’t.

The question is whether we’re willing to follow the real Jesus when He refuses to follow our plan.

Because we will never become like Jesus if we only follow Him where we like. But when we allow Him to lead—even through places we wouldn’t have chosen—we eventually discover that He has been leading us toward Life all along.

Reflection Questions

1. Where in your life are you most tempted to ask Jesus to follow your plans rather than allowing Him to lead?
2. Is there something Jesus teaches that you find yourself regularly minimizing, redefining, or explaining away because following it would cost more than you want to give?
3. What would “get behind me” look like practically in your life right now—one area where you could stop trying to direct Jesus and simply follow where He leads?