Scripture

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Observation

Having heard the words about eating Jesus’ body and drinking His blood, many of Jesus’ disciples start grumbling among themselves.

Jesus responds to this by saying that His words are spirit and life. This is the reason why people can come to Him by the grace of God.

Many of His followers turn away. Jesus as ks the Twelve, “Aren’t you going too?” Peter says, “Lord you have the words of eternal life.”

Application

There are many people who start the christian journey, but fail to follow through to the end. In this passage, people stop following Jesus because they are offended by His words.

In the parable of the sower, Jesus tells us there are three broad reasons why people fail to move on- cares of the world (money, family, jobs etc), persecution or difficulties in life, and satan stealing their faith before the word takes root.

The true disciple hangs on through tough times- whether spiritual battles or physical troubles.

Peter sums it up: “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

I don’t always understand why the Lord allows things to happen the way they do. At times, the Lord feels distant, and I am clinging to Him out of stubbornness.

But where else would I go? Who else or what else can give has the ability to give meaning and purpose to my life? Nobody else can give me eternal life.

So I hang on even when it doesn’t make sense. Eventually I see things in the right perspective again and it all starts to make sense- or at least I can trust Him that it makes sense.

Prayer

Where else would we go Lord? To leave you is to turn my back on eternity. Thank you for the gift of salvation. Please help me to cling to you when life gets difficult. Amen.