December 25, 2023
Stepping Into Unknown Territory
“And when He had spoken this, He said to him, ‘Follow Me!’” John 21:19b (NASB)
While serving a search warrant for stolen property after receiving intelligence, we made a startling discovery. The house we were about to enter didn’t look like it was as big until we got inside. We got a basic floor plan from the informant concerning the layout of the rooms but had no idea what it would look like until we got inside. I was part of the entry team at the time. We had other detectives stationed around the house, as we knew there were a lot of people living inside. When we entered, I watched for any threats. As we went room by room, I heard my partner say to me, “There is another room inside this one too, follow me.” I had no idea what we were getting into at the time, but I trusted his eyesight. When we came into the second room (within the room), we saw all the stolen property we had been briefed. We recovered about $20,000 worth of stolen property from this one room. Although it took the remainder of the day to recover it and process the scene, it was worth it. If I recall, we cleared about 10-plus criminal cases that day and arrested four suspected of the crimes. The house was condemned shortly after.
“And when He had spoken this, He said to him, ‘Follow Me!’” This call to Peter would be one every disciple of Christ must consider. Will we follow Christ? No matter the pain and suffering (and even death), and still follow? Lincoln says this is also the call to discipleship: “This constituted Peter’s initial call to discipleship, according to Mark’s account (cf. Mark 1:17), and was the call issued to Philip in John 1:43. So Peter’s charge to feed the sheep is also a recommissioning to discipleship, a reminder that shepherding Jesus’ sheep will also mean being one of those sheep and following the good shepherd himself (cf. 10:4, 27). Further, the call to follow Jesus picks up on Peter’s earlier question and claim in 13:37— ‘Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ It was immediately following this that Jesus had predicted Peter’s denial of his discipleship, and Peter went on to demonstrate his failure to follow and to be ready to lay down his life. But now the situation has changed. In the light of the preceding prediction it is clear that Jesus deems Peter ready to be the sort of follower who is now able to follow even to the extent of laying down his life.”[1] This “following Christ,” should be the summary of the Christian life. It includes faith, obedience to God, service to man, and surrender of self to God. While all these are levels each one must master over a lifetime, sacrifice comes at steep costs, but it also brings gladness and satisfaction. It makes life worth living and proves the promise of life within each who has trusted Christ as their Savior. I recall one other thing I said to someone this week. When we are obedient, it feels good. This comes because of the new nature that lives inside the believer, whereby the Spirit of God is pleased with our behavior when we choose to live obedient lives. It's like children having their parents witness them being good.
I wasn’t sure what I was in for when we entered that room. There was so much stuff piled up inside, I don’t know how the floor supported it all. I couldn’t tell you if someone was hiding inside all that mess. My partner and I were a little hesitant to take the next steps inside, but we knew we had to find out what was inside. When we did, we hit the motherload. Peter only knew that when he finally decided to follow Christ, he wasn’t sure what was ahead, but he went in because His Master called him to do so. When he did, He hit the motherload of ministry.
[1] Lincoln, A. T. (2005). (pp. 519–520). Continuum.