When the water finally grows shallow enough for his feet to touch, Simon Peter sees Jesus standing near a beachside fire. The unmistakable smell of smoke, charred fish, and fresh, baked bread fill the air. This is not an ordinary breakfast, but an encounter that changes one disciple forever and echoes truths into my heart thousands of years later. 

Now this was Simon Peter’s day. This passionate young disciple had already experienced the highs and lows of three years of ministry with Jesus. He witnessed miracles that shattered his own paradigm of what was really possible with God. He watched firsthand as blind eyes saw their first sights, deaf ears heard their first words, and the crippled took their first steps. He experienced the high of walking on water and the low of denying the man he loved more than anything.

Jesus prophetically warns the follower that “truly, truly” there will come a day “when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go. Follow me (John 21:18-19)”. Though the words penetrate Simon Peter’s mind, they do not pierce his heart. He doesn’t want them to. Who would? Peter looks anywhere and everywhere for an escape. He finds one among the impromptu breakfast crowd. “Lord, and what about this man?” he asks.

“If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?” Jesus asks pointedly.

Then Jesus echoes the command, "You follow Me!"

Through that passage, God was speaking to me and anchoring me in the truth that above all else the greatest calling on my life was not my marital status or ministry but simply to follow him. My calling is to press my face into the shoulder blades of Jesus so that wherever he leads I will go. 

You follow me.

Those words have become a holy reverb in my soul. That’s often what happens when God speaks. The sacred echo reverberates inside of us long after the words are spoken.

Though that morning was the first time God spoke those words to me, it was far from the last.

You follow me.

Those words have become a sacred echo, an ongoing reminder from God of my simple calling. Years later, those are probably three of the most common words that reverberate in my heart from God.

That’s one reason I find spending time in scripture so important. The Bible is not to be seen as a single volume as much as a rich library for God’s children. As I spend time in his word, studying the people, places, and passages, I expand the resources that the Holy Spirit can draw from in my life. When I feel completely out of control and begin to doubt that God has any control, the Holy Spirit impregnates my mind with the truth from Jeremiah 29:11 that indeed, God does not just have a plan but a future. When I am tempted to hold a grudge against someone and allow the anger to get the best of my heart, mind, and mouth, Ephesians 4:26 flashes a basic life principle: Don’t wait—forgive today. And when I feel empty on the inside, a million miles from God, I remember the simple invitation of John 10:10 that Jesus has come that we may have life and have it to the full. And when I find myself doubting and questioning everything in my future, I am reminded of the simple truth:  Remember, Margaret. You follow me.

Adapted from The Sacred Echo by MARGARET FEINBERG (www.margaretfeinberg.com). Copyright © 2008 by Margaret Feinberg (www.margaretfeinberg.com) . Used by permission of Zondervan. Margaret can be reached at Margaret@margaretfeinberg.com. Join her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mafeinberg.

**This excerpt first published on June 4, 2009.