Forward Movement is an official, non-profit agency of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to create compelling content for Christian living. Since 1935 we have published the quarterly devotional Forward Day by Day, as well as pamphlets, booklets, and books that encourage and nourish people in their lives of prayer and faith.
SUNDAY, April 18 Easter 3
John 21:1-19. After this he said to him, "Follow me."
"Follow me" may be thought of as a duty or an invitation, but we will never achieve a life worthy of the name Christian if we neglect to think of it at all. This gospel has been called a "gospel of love" because Jesus was love in action, or in the familiar phrase, "he went about doing good." So too must all who are of his company. He did not spend his time searching out saints to do his work: he took simple, ordinary people who responded to the command "Follow me," and as they did the work, grateful people came to call them saints.The difficulty many people find in the Christian faith is that it does make demands, and not trivial demands, either. It is not an abstract theological doctrine which can be satisfied by a recitation of the creeds: always we hear the voice of Jesus saying, "Follow me." Many find it an easy thing to recite "I believe in God"; no one will find it an easy matter to follow Christ, yet that is both our duty and our great reward. (1957)
PRAY for The Anglican Church of Kenya and the Diocese of All Saints Cathedral
Ps 30; Acts 9:1- 6(7-20); Revelation 5:11-14
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The truth of this morning's meditation, likewise, has not changed in the ensuing 50+ years. The reality of it, however, is that I can be so assured of what I proclaim when I recite the creed, but when the going gets tough, I'm all about trying to get over, under, or around the difficulty, rather than walking with Jesus through it.
I pray for myself, and others like me, that Jesus will give us the desire and the stamina to follow Him, and to do his will now, so that when we get to the end of our lives here on earth, we will hear, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."