When the servants of the High Priest arrived to arrest Jesus on the day before He took up the cross, it seemed that the disciples would defend Jesus to the death. However, all the disciples deserted Him and fled when He was arrested. Their resolution to follow Jesus even unto death failed because of their wish to keep living this life that will come to an end one day.
Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” (Matthew 26:35) But he disowned Jesus calling down curses on himself while swearing to the servants of the high priest, “I don’t know the man.”
Then what about us? Whenever we pray, we say “I will live according to your will, Lord because you died for me.” What would you say when the Lord says, “I want to use you as an evangelist to win lots of people who are going to hell? I bet you would say, “No, my Lord, not now, I have a lot of things to do. When I am finished with these busy works, will you use me if you still want to?” We can’t be sure of our faith. Faith is not emotion. The Lord must rule over me and give me faith.
Listen to the voice of the Lord who dwells in you, “Did I ignore you when you were a sinner and you were destined to die as the wages of sins? I shed my blood to heal you when you had a disease. I was crucified to give you happiness when you were cursed. I paid the wages of your sins by bleeding and dying on the cross when you needed to die for your sins.”
The Lord never even once turns his back on us. Nevertheless, haven’t you turned your back on the Lord too often? Do you not misunderstand that you have a great faith even if you have a pathetic faith? Saying you have faith doesn’t mean you have faith. Without deeds, the faith is dead. A person with faith should never be discouraged and draw back from any word of the Lord. This is because he has the grace of the Lord, which cannot be compared with life.
Pastor Seok-Jeon Yoon
Extracted from Yonsei Newspaper #585(July 28, 2018)
