A Death that Glorifies God

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So Peter's encounter with the risen Christ on the shores of the Sea of Galilee was certainly powerful, transformative, and something that he never forgot. And I want to expand on what we said yesterday about Jesus saying follow Me, because just before that He said this to Peter: “Very truly I tell you, when you were younger, you dressed yourself and went where you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands. Someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” And then John says “Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God” (John 21:18–19).

Following Jesus Fully

Jesus was talking about the fact that Peter would be crucified. He would stretch out his hands in crucifixion. And of course, famously, Peter was crucified upside down at his own request because he felt unworthy of dying the same way Jesus did.

You know, we often talk about living a life that glorifies God. Of course, that's central to our faith, our lifestyle, our life choices—everything about our lives is to be God-honouring, God-glorifying. That's what life is all about.

Dying to the Glory of God

But this verse gave me pause this week, because Peter's death glorified God, and I got to thinking about my own mortality. Obviously, I've just had this big op. And I remember lying in hospital, feeling so out of it, thinking, OK, what if I don't make it? What if I don't pull through? And strangely enough, I ended up writing a song—which you'll hear at some point when I record it—called If I Die Today, It’s OK. I was in a place where I said, Well, if I die today, I'll be with my God. To be absent in the body is to be present with the Lord, right? So it's OK.

But on the other hand, dying sounds painful. I'm a little bit afraid—not so much of death itself, but of the process of dying—because I hope that it's not going to hurt too much.

This verse made me think: Will my death glorify God as much as my life? I hope that in death I will still be holding onto the name of Jesus. I hope that in death somehow people will see Jesus in me, even at the end. And who knows—it might be today or it might be years from now—but I hope. I hope that it'll be said of me that my death glorified God, much like Peter here.

Living With Eternity

How about you? Maybe the thought of your own dying is something that's on your mind often. Maybe it's something you don't think about much. Will you die to the glory of God? Will you die kicking and screaming, moaning and complaining and grumbling? Or will you die knowing that you're going to be safe in your Father's arms?

If I die today, it's OK. Because I know the One who conquered death.

May it be that all of us who profess Jesus as our Lord not only live for Him, but one day, when we die, we'll die with His name on our lips and His praise in our hearts, so that even at our very last moments, we're honouring Him. But in the meantime, let's live for Him with all our hearts.

As always, I want to thank you for your support of this ministry. Keep sharing the messages all around, and let's spread the good news about Jesus however we can.

Go well, my friends. Take care.