Author: Greg Teats

Psalms 3-4

When you look back on the stories of King David you can see how he was known for his courage, military strategy and leadership.  I mean, he did take down a giant in Goliath.  He was a shepherd who became the King of Israel and led them through “The Golden Age” of prosperity.  Like any man, though, he had his flaws, but was one of the best at asking God for forgiveness and seeking His guidance throughout all of his life.

I personally could read Psalm 3 over and over again.  In Psalm 3:2 he says, ‘Men are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.”’  This makes me think of when people say, “Stop worrying about what other people think about you.”  It is something I say way to often to my immediate family and friends.  And so often I catch myself ‘worrying about what someone else says about me’ when I should be asking God to bestow glory on me and simply lift up my head like David did.

Then in Psalm 4, David references how those against him see the glory in his life and shame him for it.  They all seek false gods and ask who will show them any good.  But instead of David shaming them, he prays for them.  He prays to the Lord that they will all seek out righteousness in Him and make the right sacrifices to Him.   If only I could be as conscious of this as much as David was.

The two Psalms are reminders to us.  When we get caught up in the day to day and we hear others comment about personal, professional, and spiritual lives in a negative way for no good reason……our first reaction is not reciprocating in the same manner back.  It gives us a reason right then and there to give thanks to God.  It is a reminder that ALL of our good comes from Him, and we reciprocate by asking God to love and watch over our neighbors so that one day they start doing the same.

What would you do when you come to the realization that your time in this world is coming to an end?  You probably grab your loved ones and spend as much time left with them as you could.  You hug them, love them, smile and cry with them and long to never let those moments go.  Jesus grabbed a bowl, put water in it and started washing the feet of those around him.  After he was finished doing this he said to his disciples, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” John 13:14-15

Does Jesus just mean to love thy neighbor and to treat those as you wish to be treated, or does it go deeper than that?  He is telling the disciples that HE is the example, the one and only example, and that through him, they should live their lives in the same manner with the same contrition and demeanor.  I know, just like the disciples knew, His sandals are impossible to fill….but we all have to do our best each and every day.

Later that night, after everyone has filled their stomachs and gotten their feet washed by the Son of God…..Jesus says in John 13:21, “I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.”  Then picture this, the disciple Peter, as if he is sitting in class and whispers over to his classmate, “Pssshh…..ask him who it is.” Then in verse 26, Jesus says, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.”  He then handed it to Judas, and Satan entered into him.

What was Judas feeling right before he was handed the bread?  What were the other disciples thinking?  I imagine some of them questioning themselves, rationalizing in their minds that they were never thinking of turning on Jesus, so if not me, then who??  Then I picture this image of a ghost-like Satan floating from the back of the room and entering Judas’ body, with a mischievous grin on his face that says ‘I got this one’.

As if that wasn’t enough drama for the night, there was a little more for one disciple in particular.  In John 13:33 Jesus says, “My children, I will be with you only a little longer.  You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.”  Peter asked Jesus where he was going and in John 13:37-38, “Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now?  I will lay down my life for you.”  Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me?  I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!”

Peter denying Jesus has to be one of the most recognized stories from the Bible ever told.  If you remember from earlier it was Peter who was asking a fellow disciple who Jesus was talking about betraying him.  There wasn’t a thought in Peter’s mind that he would EVER deny Jesus.  That had to have crushed Peter to tears.  What was the mood of the room after that?  Was everyone waiting for a 3^rd shoe to drop?

In John, chapter 13, these are the three things that happen. In my readings of the Bible I often catch myself imagining how I would feel or what I would do in these situations.  Surely Jesus would never tell me I would deny him 3 times or I would ever betray him….Right?! I have no idea, none of us can be certain.  What we need to make certain is that we are doing the best we can to live our lives in the ways Christ did.  Jesus says, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” I pray that when we are given those opportunities to share and show our faith in God by the way we carry ourselves through everyday life, the Lord is pleased.

Today’s Reading: John 1:35-51

These days it is easier for many of us to google any verse out of the Bible and have it at our fingertips in milliseconds as opposed to grabbing the nearest bible at home or maybe at the office.  I haven’t personally opened the bible I got when I went through confirmation in, unfortunately, and admittedly, a few years.  Why?  Because the internet is always in my pocket.  But for this reading, I dusted that bible off.

Here is why I love this bible.  Like many other bibles, when Jesus speaks the words are in red.  That instantly makes reading the scripture change for the better in my eyes.  He is speaking and I know it without question.  I feel it differently than just black and white.  Verse 39, “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”  At the end of verse 43, “Follow me.”

This is Jesus making commands.  When I read it, I don’t believe He is saying them sternly or with a temper of course, but rather calm, collective, and confidently.  He has said these things to me in my walk and very recently for that matter.  Personally, and professionally lately I have found myself in some difficult situations with several different answers with all different types of results.  I am an overthinker a lot of the time.  Usually, the best answer has been staring me in the face from the beginning, but I wrap around in circles.  Then I pray and His voice reaches out, “Follow me”.

My favorite poem that I carry in my wallet is Footprints in the Sand.  I feel like so many times it starts between Him and I, “Follow me” and ends with “It was then that I carried you”.  Isn’t that just it?  Isn’t it that ‘simple’?  It isn’t……but we should try to make it that way everyday.  Pray, listen, follow and if you see one set of footprints remember, they aren’t yours, they are His.