THE PULL AND THE PUSH

Walking as a disciple and a Christian, we are pulled into and pushed around by so many forces. If we are not firm and strong we can be yielding to undesirable things, which may not be wrong per se, but certainly unnecessary and unprofitable in our pursuit of God and His righteousness. Sometimes such a thing may be downright wrong and sinful.

The apostle Peter was a good man, with a great heart. However, he had his fair share of weak side. Remember, the three denials of his LORD and Master? The apostle Paul had a very firm encounter with Peter. Paul had to correct not only Peter, but also Barnabas and few other Jewish believers. The indent is recorded in Galatians 2:11-16 – “11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Paul then further corrects all of them and says, “15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”

Many times we also are tempted to run with the crowds. Such is pull and push of things when it comes to crowds. It is not only wrong to join the crowds, if they are wrong, but also a grave sin. It is a sin, because, by doing so, we are denying Christ our LORD. Such actions indicate clearly that, we do not have the courage to identify ourselves with our Redeemer, but rather, with the people and the crowds. It is so, because for us, their opinion and the criticism is counted more important, than what the LORD has to say. Thus we deny the LORD.

May the LORD grant us His grace to stand for God and His truth, no matter the cost. It is not easy for many, but it is the right thing to do. May we seek the LORD, to do what is right in His sight.