Monday Devotional: April 28, 2025

Bible Reading: John 21:18-19 (NRSVUE)

¹⁸ I assure you that when you were younger you tied your own belt and walked around wherever you wanted. When you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and another will tie your belt and lead you where you don’t want to go.” ¹⁹ He said this to show the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. After saying this, Jesus said to Peter, “Follow me.”

Jesus foretells Peter’s upcoming death through martyrdom in verses 18 and 19. This story is a call to the disciples to embrace the sacrificial agape for God, reflected in Jesus’ agape and sacrifice for them and for us.

The inevitability of the death of our physical bodies we read about in Psalm 30 is reflected again here. We will grow old, and we will lose control, autonomy, and agency of our bodies. Or we may die young. We could die violently, like Peter. But Jesus is clear: No matter what happens to us, we should glorify God.

“Follow me!” Jesus instructs. We are called to surrender to the Triune God. Our aim now and forever is to praise God for God’s mercy and to praise Jesus for his sacrifice. But this is a tall order. When we experience pain, defeat, suffering, persecution, violence, and hopelessness, the last thing we may want to do is praise God. When we feel scared, the last thing we want to do is be courageous. But through our love of Jesus, we shape our lives after Jesus and commit our lives to praising God and loving others, no matter the challenges we may experience.

These two verses that offered such wisdom to Peter and the disciples speak to us today. We are not in control, and to love Jesus and follow Jesus is to give up control. Yet this was the commitment Peter made when he declared his love for Jesus three times. It was not only with his words that Peter proclaimed his love but with his actions that followed (told in the book of Acts). The same is true for us: Our words of love and praise for Christ go only so far. It is only when our lives are lived in love and praise of God that we truly live out the call to follow Jesus.

Prayer

Triune God, even as we long for control and feel the pinch of our finitude, you remind us that to follow you is to give up control and live a full life of love and praise. Amen.

By J. Dana Trent, The Upper Room Disciplines 2025, page 153.

Bible Study

“Embracing Life” By Von W. Unruh

Unit 1: Living Water

Session Title: Thirst-Quenching Water
Focal Passage: John 4:4-14
Background Text: John 4
Purpose Statement: To develop a thirst for the water of life Jesus gives.

Questions:

• Have you even been extremely thirsty either in body or in spirit? Do you thirst for the living water that Jesus offers?
• What have you been consuming in place of Jesus’ living water? Has it left you thirsty again? What would it look like for Jesus to slake your thirst?
• Have you experienced food or water insecurity? Would you and your class consider how you might take clean water to those who have none as a way of following in the footsteps of Jesus?

Zoom Session

Monday, April 28, 2025, from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

(For Zoom Link, send an email to [email protected])

In-Person Session

Wednesday, April 30, 2025, from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm, Conference Room, McGee Building.