READING: 1 Chronicles 23-24, John 21:15-25
I wonder what Peter’s face looked like when Jesus gave him this message: “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go” (John 21:18). Perhaps the words struck fear in Peter. Maybe he didn’t understand them completely, though his following question about John’s future suggests he had some understanding.
Whatever his emotions might have been, though, they really didn’t matter; Jesus simply told him, “Follow me” (John 21:19). In fact, He repeated the same words in verse 22: “You follow me.”
“Follow me,” Jesus said to Peter, “and you will die.”
If that’s what following Jesus requires of us, we must be willing to die—and not get concerned about the fate of other believers! In the end, the Jesus of whom John wrote, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25), is worth it.
PRAYER: “Lord, make my heart willing to die for You.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Review and catch-up day