When the Call Comes, Answer It
When someone needs you, it may not be an interruption—it may be Jesus calling you to care.
Have you really committed yourself to follow Jesus?
In the closing verses of John’s Gospel, Peter is uneasy. Jesus is calling him into something he didn’t expect. Peter was a fisherman—strong, independent, accustomed to action. Shepherds? They stayed with slow, wandering animals. That wasn’t Peter’s life.
Can you hear Peter’s thoughts?
“Jesus, first, you call me to be a fisher of men; now, you tell me to become a … shepherd? I don’t know anything about being a shepherd—my life is fishing!”
Yet Jesus looks at him and says, “Feed my lambs” (John 21:15 ESV).
Lambs are vulnerable. They need constant attention. And Jesus is telling Peter that the vulnerable matter.
Again, Jesus says, “Tend my sheep” (John 21:16).
People will not always be logical; they won’t always act in their best interests. They wander. They get lost. People are hard work, but people belong to Jesus. Care for them. Guide them. Stay with them.
You know what that looks like.
You’re busy. Your phone rings. You see the name—and you know it won’t be a quick call. It’s someone who needs time, patience, and attention you don’t feel like giving. You hesitate.
That’s the moment.
Then a third time: “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17).
Jesus wasn’t changing Peter’s occupation—He was redefining his purpose. Feeding lambs became feeding sheep. “Peter,” Jesus was saying, “make the care of people more important than your own needs. I’ll show you how—follow me. Imitate me. Do what I do.”
Following Jesus would no longer be about Peter’s strengths or preferences. It would be about people. Messy, wandering, sometimes difficult people who belong to Christ.
Peter feels the weight of it. And like many of us would, he looks for a way out. Seeing John nearby, he asks, “What about him?”
Jesus responds, in essence: That’s not your concern. You follow me. (John 21:20–22).
This wasn’t just Peter’s moment—it’s ours.
Jesus still asks the same question: Do you love me?
And the answer still carries the same responsibility: You care for my people.
Following Jesus isn’t about comfort or preference. It’s about commitment. It’s about loving people enough to serve them, especially when it’s inconvenient, uncomfortable, or stretches us beyond what we feel capable of doing.
Love for Jesus is proven in how we care for people.
Dear Reader, committing yourself to follow Jesus doesn’t require having all the answers. You don’t need to feel ready. You only need to be willing.
Today, ask Jesus to show you one person who needs care—a call, a kind word, a helping hand, your time. Then respond. When that call comes… answer it.
