Creekside,
I hope that you all had a great weekend reflecting on the resurrection of our Lord! In the Bible reading yesterday we read the closing chapter of the gospel of John. In it there is a painfully honest interaction between Jesus and Peter. Peter, after discovering that loving Jesus would cost him his life (John 21:18-19) was called by the Lord to follow him anyway. He immediately responded by looking at John and asking what would happen to him. The respond of Jesus to him is convicting: “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” (John 21:20-22)
There are two things that jump out at me from Jesus words. First of all, the Lord has each of us on a unique journey as we follow him. The path that he calls you to walk is yours and yours alone, but he promises to lead you in it. He leads each of us specifically and individually, and wherever he takes you, he will be present with you and care for you. David speaks of that in Psalms 23 – I would encourage you to read that fresh right now.
The second thing that jumps out at me is that the call to follow Jesus is something that we each, on our own, have to decide to give ourselves to fully and completely. It doesn’t matter what it costs (John 21:18) or how God chooses to lead someone else (John 21:22). What really matters is whether or not we really believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that life is found in following him (John 20:31).
John closed his Gospel with a statement that reveals the greatness and glory of Jesus Christ, telling us that if he tried to record everything that Jesus did “even the world itself would not contain the books which were written” (John 21:25). His work continues through us and for us, and he lives to lead us in life today. His words to us are the same as they were for Peter, “You follow me!”
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