Speaker 1: 0:01

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.

Speaker 2: 0:20

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 2: 2:02

Verse 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 2: 3:15

In 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 2: 3:53

In 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 2: 4:33

When 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 1: 5:13

Amen. 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.