THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2025
JOHN 18:11 “Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?”
KEYWORD: Obedience and total surrender to God’s will should be your guiding force at all times if you must prosper and become all that God has spoken concerning you.
How easy it is to start a thing and then, when faced with challenges, abandon it without much hesitation! Many have embarked on a journey or a path only to give up along the way. Some quit at the very beginning, others falter midway, and a few stop just short of the finish line. While this may be overlooked in certain aspects of life, it is never acceptable to God. Our God is deliberate and steadfast; He finishes everything He starts. All creation bears witness to the fact that God does nothing haphazardly and that He is a God of perfection and excellence.
God giving an analysis of Himself after the six days of creation stopped when He could say that all He had created was good. If we then look to Him as our example, as we ought to do, it is clear what He also expects of us when we deal with what is assigned to us. He expects that we complete it totally and with excellence. It must not be done roughly, without enthusiasm, or even in a poor manner. Why else do you think we’ve all survived so long? If He wasn’t diligent when He created the universe, we wouldn’t be where we are today, able to do what we do. Therefore, we mustn’t look down on either ourselves or the assignment God gives us.
Nothing, in fact, should be allowed to derail us from the course God has set out for us. It is why Jesus soundly rebuked Peter in the opening scripture when he sought to intervene in Jesus’ arrest by cutting off one of the centurion’s ears. Jesus asked him if He shouldn’t drink from the cup His Father had given Him to drink from, implying that doing otherwise was not to be condoned at all. This mindset must define our response whenever God calls on us and says, ‘Daughter or son, this is what I want you to do.’ Obedience and total surrender to God’s will should be your guiding force at all times if you must prosper and become all that God has spoken concerning you. Praise God!
PRAYER:
Father, I understand better today how important it is for me to stay the course You’ve set me upon. I receive grace from You to do all You’ve assigned me to do excellently in Jesus’ name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY:
LUKE 12:50
“But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!”
MATTHEW 20:22
“But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.”
