Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to
be still before God.
Opening Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I am still so divided. I truly want to follow you, but I also want
to follow my own desires and lend an ear to the voices that speak about
prestige, success, popularity, pleasure, power, and influence. Help me to become deaf to those voices and
more attentive to your voice, which calls me to choose the narrow road to
life. I know this will be a very hard
road for me. The choice for your way has
to be made every moment of my life. I
have to choose thoughts that are your thoughts, words that are your words, and
actions that are your actions. There are
no times and places without choices. And
I know how deeply I resist choosing you.
Please, Lord, be with me at every moment and in every place. Give me the strength and courage to live my
life faithfully, so that I will be able to taste with joy the new life which
you have prepared for me. Amen. (The
Road to Daybreak by Henri J.M. Nouwen)
Scripture Reading for the Day: John 21:15-25
Reading for Reflection:
A very wise man once
said, "Only he who obeys a rhythm superior to his own in free."
I wonder if that was a little of what Jesus was trying to teach Simon Peter as
they walked together on the beach only days after the resurrection. Of
course he was doing much more than that. Of course he was offering a
beautiful restoration to Peter, giving him three opportunities to profess his
love for the three times he had denied him only days before.
And of course he was trying to teach Peter that the most important
question in all of the spiritual life is "Do you truly love me more than
these?" Whatever these may be. And of course he was
trying to show Peter that in the days and weeks, and even years,
ahead that undying, passionate love for Jesus is the only way to
truly feed the sheep without feeding on the sheep. But I also have to
wonder if one of the main things he was trying to teach Peter was that until
our lives are ordered and determined by Jesus' love and His kingdom, we
really aren't following Him at all, but only following ourselves. I think
that's why he makes the disturbing statement in verses 18-19. Almost as
if to say, Okay, okay, when you were younger you kind of called your own
shots and determined your own agenda. But when you get older, when your
life of faith grows and matures, you must put yourself completely under my
control. That's what this life of faith is really all about. You
must stretch out your empty hands and let me do all the leading. You
must operate by my plans and my agenda. I must be the one that determines
how and where you spend your days, even if it means going to places that you'd
rather not go. That's what following me really looks like.
There is a shift that must take place deeply within you; a shift from leading
to being led. First you are led (by me) and then—and only then—you lead. So the question becomes: "Who or what
determines your rhythm each day?" Because only he who obeys a
rhythm superior to his own is free.
Reflection and Listening: silent and written
Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, give me the courage and the
faith to truly follow you, wherever it may lead, whatever it might cost. Let me give myself fully to your care and
your control. For your glory. Amen.
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