“But Peter followed him at a distance…”
Jesus was supposed to be the King of Kings. The Messiah. The Savior of the world. This wasn’t supposed to be the end. The man that Peter had dropped everything to follow for three years was now being arrested. He didn’t understand why. After all, Jesus was innocent. But Peter didn’t know the end of the story. He didn’t know Jesus would rise again. Peter didn’t know, so he followed at a distance.
Maybe today you are like Peter, following God at a distance. You put your hope in something or someone before, but you were let down. Now you are afraid to hope again. You are afraid to believe again.
I’ve been there before. When I first believed, I was on fire for God. I was in the honeymoon phase. I would tell anyone and everyone about Jesus. But I learned that as you walk with Jesus for a while, you begin to see this walk isn’t always easy. It can be lonely. It requires sacrifice. It requires saying no to things that you once said yes to. It requires a daily commitment to pick up your cross and die to your flesh. It can be easy to just follow at a distance like Peter did, to just go through the motions of faith and put God in a box under the mattress.
But it’s not too late. After Jesus’ resurrection, this is what the angels said at the tomb:
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” (Mark 16:6-7)
Notice the angel said, “and Peter.” In other words, make sure to tell Peter. He is down right now. He is confused right now. He is in a dark place right now. He messed up. He denied Jesus. But tell Peter there is hope. He can start over. Jesus is alive!
If you read further in Acts, Peter became one of the most influential and impactful preachers of all time.
So today, choose to commit again. Go all in. Believe again. Hope again. You don’t have to follow at a distance anymore. We know the end of the story. Jesus is victorious. So you can be too.
Prayer: Lord, I am sorry for just going through the motions of my faith. Set me on fire again for your kingdom. Remind me that with you, the story is never over. No matter how much I mess up or get let down in this life, I know that you are working all things together for my good. I put all of my hope and trust in you today. In Jesus name, amen.
