Archives: 2007

The only way to be a disciple of Jesus

This last piece of Luke 22:54 seized my mind this morning:

“And Peter followed afar off.”

To me, that illustrates an important spiritual lesson — To follow Jesus, I must be close to Him.

Following Him from a long distance is no way to follow Him at all.

So how did I do yesterday?

Sometimes, though I eventually do things His way, I purposefully delay my obedience. “Afar off.”

Sometimes, though I desire to live His way, I want to “just check out” another way before I obey Him. “Afar off.”

Sometimes, though I sincerely strive to follow Him, I want to do it on my own terms. “Afar off.”

Sometimes, though I know His way, I choose to do something contrary (for whatever reason). “Afar off.”

Following Jesus afar off will lead to denying Jesus. (How deeply do I believe that?)

Let me have Peter’s repentant heart!

And let me follow Jesus closely. This closely: “I walk with the King.”

[And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter (Luke 22:61)]
from Luke 22:61
Reading:

Luke 22:54-71

A little bit more from Luke 22: Words of Doom

Reading:
Luke 22:47-53

This piece of verse 53 is impressive to me:

“But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

One impression: There is an appointed time for everything.

Another impression: Jesus’ real enemy was not any human but Satan, the power of darkness. (If I see people as my enemies, I’ll be fighting the wrong battles and will be very vulnerable to my real enemy.)

Last impression: Their time had finally come…and it overlapped with that of Satan. Oh wow! Sometimes we wait for our “chance” — when it comes, let’s don’t allow our use of it to overlap with Satan’s use of it.

Do you know what I mean with that last impression? Just in case, I’ll restate it this way: Don’t help the Devil accomplish his purposes!

[He touched his ear, and healed him (Luke 22:51)]

from Luke 22:51

A little bit more from Luke 22: Please. Not I!