No one can come to the Father except through me. John 14:6b
Earlier this week, I shared that I am reliant on my GPS to get almost everywhere. It does not happen often, but occasionally I think I know better than my GPS, so I choose not to follow the direction, or the way, that my GPS is guiding me. This does not usually work out for me. Going my own way instead of following the directions of my GPS usually makes my route longer, sometimes much longer, than it was intended to be. Now, going a different direction than my GPS has low stakes. An extra 20 minutes, or even an hour, likely will not have a lasting impact. The stakes are infinitely higher when it comes to following Jesus, who called Himself “the way, the truth, and the life” in John 14:6. You see, God has given each human being free will, the opportunity to choose how we live our lives and whether we will follow Jesus. The question is, “Will we choose to believe in Him and follow Him?” This is the most important question we will ever answer. After all, eternity hangs in the balance of the answer to that question.
This week, we have taken a deep look at Jesus' statement to His disciples when they asked Him the way to the Father, where He would soon be going, in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” However, the verse does not end with this declaration of who Jesus is. Jesus continued speaking in this verse, saying, “No one can come to the Father except through Me” (verse 6). There is no other way to eternal life with God other than through Jesus. If we choose not to follow Him, we will not arrive in eternity with Him one day. How do we respond to the message that Jesus is the only way to God? We follow Him boldly with full devotion.
Jesus’ disciples certainly understood the call to follow Him with full devotion, even after His death on a cross and resurrection. They followed Him boldly and committed to spreading His message everywhere. They did not even stop following when they faced persecution. In Acts 4, religious leaders questioned Peter and John about what they had taught and done in Jesus' name. In response, Peter did not cower. Instead, he spoke boldly. He told the religious leaders about Jesus, saying, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” (verse 12). Peter’s boldness threatened the religious leaders, so they commanded Peter and John not to preach or teach in Jesus' name (verse 18). This did not deter the disciples, however. Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than Him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard” (verses 19-20). The disciples were fully devoted to following and obeying Jesus, the way, without looking back. What an example they set for us!
As Jesus said in John 14, we “know the way” to an eternal life with Him forever. He is the way. Will we follow Him? Will we fully devote ourselves to Him and make Him known? If He truly is the way, and He is, then there is no alternate route. Let’s commit to being fully devoted followers every day.
Moving Toward Action
One way we can express our devotion to Christ is worship. Make plans to worship Him this weekend at one of our services. Worship Him for all He has done, including making a way and being the way to an eternity with God the Father one day.
Prayer Prompt: Use this prompt to guide you as you pray.
“God, as I set out to be fully devoted to following You, help me…”
Going Deeper
Acts 4:1-22
While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees. 2 These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead. 3 They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning. 4 But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who believed now totaled about 5,000.
5 The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest. 7 They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, 9 are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? 10 Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. 11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,
‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’
12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
13 The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say. 15 So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves.
16 “What should we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. 17 But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.” 18 So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? 20 We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”
21 The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God 22 for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years.
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