Consider the times of Jesus. The whole New Testament demonstrates to the world that Jesus is the Son of God by His deeds and by His death. And His 12 Apostles had a front row seat for the whole thing.
Let’s look at what they saw, as recorded by Matthew the Apostle:
Jesus drove out demons, as recorded in Matthew 8. Jesus told the wind and the waves to be still in Matthew 8. They saw Jesus heal the sick and raise the dead. They were there, we read in Matthew 12, when Jesus spoke to the Pharisees like no one had ever spoken to them before. In addition, in Matthew 26, they were there for the Last Supper, when Jesus established a new covenant with all of humankind.
Yet in spite of all these things the apostles were privileged to see, in spite of all the things that were designed to strengthen their faith, “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’” Matthew 26:31
How could anyone fail God with Jesus walking alongside him?
The disciples swore they would not leave Him, but they were about to find out how weak they were.
They walked with Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus told them to watch and pray. However, they were so tired that they could not even keep their eyes open. Then the soldiers arrived and took Jesus into custody. The disciples were so scared and so startled that they turned and ran for their lives. Jesus was right. They all fell away. They failed Jesus and they failed to keep the faith.
What about us? In church, it’s easy to pledge our allegiance to Jesus Christ. But when we are out in the world, it is not so easy. Out there, we consider other things:
Our marriage.
Our job.
Our finances.
Our family.
Our health.
Our worries.
As much as we want to serve God, there are times when it is hard. We fail, we sin, we deny Jesus as Lord, and we fail to keep the faith.
Yes, we are in pretty good company with God’s dishonor roll of failures. Thank God, He is not finished with us!
Tomorrow: Ar-r-rgh! What to do! What to do!
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