Thursday of the 2nd
Week
of Easter - April 16, 2026
He Who Believes in the Son
Has Eternal Life
Acts 5:27-33 | John
3:31-36
Photo created by J. Dacey Jr. using M365 Co-Pilot.
Today’s
Readings
Acts
5:27-33 The
court questioned the apostles and said, "We gave you strict orders not to teach
in this name, yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching. Peter and the
apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men. The God of our ancestors
raised Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to
His right hand as leader and savior to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness
of sins. We are witnesses. When they heard this, they became furious and wanted
to put them to death.
John
3:31-36 The
one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth belongs to
the earth and speaks of earthly things. The Father loves the Son and has given
everything over to him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but
whoever disobeys the Son will not see life; the wrath of God remains upon
him.
Today's
Thread: We must obey God rather than men.
Peter said it
plainly and without apology. They were standing before the people who had just
had Jesus crucified. They were being threatened with death themselves. And
Peter looked them in the eye and said, "We must obey God rather than men." They
had no anxiety about how it would be received. That kind of courage doesn't
come from personality. It comes from an encounter with Jesus. John's Gospel
makes the stakes absolutely clear; everything has been given to the Son.
Everything. The question is simply: Where do you stand with God or with the
world?
Living It Today:
When was the last
time your faith cost you something? Not a dramatic martyrdom but a quiet moment
where you could have stayed silent or agreed or gone along, and instead you
chose to speak the truth, about what you believe, about what you stand for,
about whose you are. Peter wasn't brave because he had no fear. He was brave
because he had already decided who he was obeying.
Something to sit with today:
Most of us didn't make a dramatic decision to push Jesus
out; it just crept in quietly. The world fills your time, your headspace, and
your heart until the loudest voices shaping your life belong to everyone but
Him. And living in the world and of the
world means you are being shaped by it, its values, its approval, its version
of success. That is not obeying Jesus. That is obeying the world.
And the venom underneath a lot of this is ego and pride, and we need to call it
what it is. Pride says I know
better. Ego protects its image, demands its way, and refuses to kneel. But
Jesus washed feet. He said the greatest among you will be your servant. Ego and
pride are directly opposed to everything He taught and everything He
lived, and a life built around self-importance is a life
pointed away from God, no matter what you call yourself. You cannot serve your
ego and serve Jesus at the same time. One of them has to go.
Consider this: we came into this world with
nothing, and we will leave with nothing. Yet so many spend an entire lifetime
chasing success, titles, and money, things that will mean nothing in the
end. The only thing that will matter when we stand before God is whether
we loved Jesus and placed Him first.
And take an honest look at the blessings you have been given. If those
blessings were never shared, if the gifts, the resources, the opportunities
stayed with you alone, then they were kept for yourself with no regard for
others. That is not the life Jesus calls us to. We must seriously and humbly
surrender our lives to Him. Not tomorrow. Now.
Is there a place in your life right now where you are obeying the echoes of the
world, their opinions, their expectations, their approval, more than you are
obeying God?
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
