Welcome to the Daily Blade . The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit , the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil . Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson , and they stand ready to equip men for the fight . Let's sharpen up .
Welcome to Week 16 here with the Daily Blade we're going to cover in order to get ready for Resurrection Weekend . We are going to be in John 21 this entire week . John 21 is one of my favorite passages in the Bible . It's got so much for us , and a part of it is we're going to look at the life of Peter man . I hope studying the life of Peter , or at least some of the incidences in his life , make you feel better about being a disciple , because he is just the eternal screw up . And yet God uses screw ups like Peter and like me all the time to do infinitely more than any of us ever hoped or
imagined . What you have to understand is John 21 is post crucifixion , post-resurrection . So Jesus has showed up a couple of times to the disciples , but the disciples still don't know exactly what they are going to do with their life . Jesus has yet to give them the great commission , and so they're just kind of figuring out what to do . So John , chapter 21 , we'll pick it up in verse 1 , says this and after this , jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias , and he revealed himself in this way Simon , peter , thomas called the twin Nathaniel of
Cana , in Galilee . The sons of Zebedee , by the way , that's James and John and two others of his disciples were together . Now , part of what I love about this is John is writing this later in his life and , though the Bible is the holy , inspired word of God , it is also just an actual historical account of what was happening , and John I don't know either doesn't want to mention those two guys , or maybe he can't remember who it is . And the reason he would do this is because this is an actual historical account . This isn't a fiction or a fairy tale .
Speaker 2Verse three and Simon Peter said to them I'm going fishing . And they said to him we will go with you . Now , this is a big deal , because when Simon Peter says I'm going fishing , this is not like if I say I'm going fishing . For me , fishing is a hobby . For Simon Peter , fishing was a way of life . Just to remind you , in Matthew , chapter 4 , when Jesus comes upon Simon Peter and a few of the other guys , the sons of Zebedee and some other ones , what they were doing when Jesus calls them to be disciples is they were fishing . And I don't have time to go through it , but there was a series of schools that you would go through as a Hebrew boy , that you would go through as a Hebrew boy and , basically , if you didn't make it all the way to the top of the top to become a student of a rabbi , then your professor would tell you why don't you go and learn the trade of your father ? And so Simon Peter was a B team , a JV , a reject . He didn't have what it takes to be a rabbi , and so he was working for his dad and he was fishing . And so now Peter says well , now that the one that we've been following has been dead , crucified , and even though he is resurrected , I don't know what I'm going to do with my life . And so he goes back to his old ways .
Speaker 2In crisis , we often return to our old ways . The Bible says like dog to his vomit is a fool that returns to his ways . And what I'm here to tell you is you don't have to do what you used to do because you were not the person that you used to be . And so when Michael Jordan announced on ESPN
, I'm going to play basketball , this was coming off of a season in his life when he played baseball . That's very different than if I say I'm going to play basketball . You see , he was saying I'm going to return to the thing I was known for . Let me warn you , warn you , warn you , warn you .
Speaker 2In a time of crisis , your default may be to go back to do the things that you used to do , but I'm here to remind you that old you is dead . Do not return . Do not return to your old life . If you'll remember one time Jesus healed a guy on a mat and then he said take up your mat and walk . And the guy picks up his mat and goes walking . Now listen , if three weeks later you saw the man down there on the mat , wouldn't you say dude , what is wrong with you ? That mat is for crippled people , that mat is nasty , that mat stinks . Get up off the mat . You don't belong on the mat anymore .
Speaker 2When Christ called you out of your old lifestyle of sinfulness , then we don't go back to that . That's like the man that can walk , laying back down in the mess . So if you've got some old ways , some old habits , some sin that you have returned to , then I am telling you , christ is calling you away from that old life . He has called you to be a follower of him and you don't have to do the things that you used to do because you're not the person that you
used to be . Walk in the footsteps of your Lord and Savior , jesus Christ , not in the former way of life . And if you're struggling with that , ask the Spirit of God to give you the power to continue in the footsteps of your Master and Savior .
Speaker 1Amen . Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go . If you want to help equip other men for the fight , share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review . Stay sharp .