“I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.” Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.”

John 21:18-19

Your Encouragement

“If only I knew…”

That is what we think sometimes, isn’t it? We think we could have made better decisions. “If only I knew, I would not have married that person,” you say.

It is a wish we all entertain sometimes, especially when things do not turn out well for us. When we wallow in disappointment and life becomes bitter, we tend to look back and think it would have been different if only we knew. But is it true?

What didn’t God tell the Israelites when they left Egypt? What warnings did He not bring to them and their kings through His prophets?

How about you? Is God not warning you from His word about that decision or lifestyle you have chosen for yourself?

Remember what He says in 1 Corinthians 10:11? “These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.”

So, tell me. What situation or aspect of life has God not warned us about in His word? What direction has He not given us?

He told Peter about how he was going to die, and He told him, “Follow Me” (Jn. 21:19). Let’s see how he handled it.

And you too, my friend. How are you going to handle the truth in this message? Maybe Romans 12:1-2 would be helpful.   

Shalom.