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Walk this way (2)
'You should follow His steps' 1 Peter 2:21
Football crowds spilling out of a stadium are classic for this - sweeping you up in one direction, so that it's almost impossible to do an about-turn. But walking against the tide of the crowd is often where our Jesus Sandals take us. While the vast swarm of people are busy treating life like an X Factor audition - showing off, elbowing their way to the top, desperately trying to get the approval of others -
Jesus' way is opposed to that kind of stage-school living. When the motor-mouths of Good Friday shouted, 'If you're really God's Son, come down from that cross!' (Matt. 27:40 TM), Jesus didn't throw down His heavenly birth certificate in some desperate attempt to prove Himself. He remained nailed to the cross, refusing to let their comments altar His plans. He didn't need their approval - He already had His Father's: 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased' (Matt. 3:17 KJV).
Jesus responded to hunger, to need, to God-seekers, but he never responded to His critics. So when your motor-mouths start piling on the pressure to walk their way, walk the Jesus way instead. The only approval you'll ever need you've already got - God's. 'God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure' (Eph. 1:5 NLT).
written by Bob Gass
'You should follow His steps' 1 Peter 2:21
Football crowds spilling out of a stadium are classic for this - sweeping you up in one direction, so that it's almost impossible to do an about-turn. But walking against the tide of the crowd is often where our Jesus Sandals take us. While the vast swarm of people are busy treating life like an X Factor audition - showing off, elbowing their way to the top, desperately trying to get the approval of others -
Jesus' way is opposed to that kind of stage-school living. When the motor-mouths of Good Friday shouted, 'If you're really God's Son, come down from that cross!' (Matt. 27:40 TM), Jesus didn't throw down His heavenly birth certificate in some desperate attempt to prove Himself. He remained nailed to the cross, refusing to let their comments altar His plans. He didn't need their approval - He already had His Father's: 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased' (Matt. 3:17 KJV).
Jesus responded to hunger, to need, to God-seekers, but he never responded to His critics. So when your motor-mouths start piling on the pressure to walk their way, walk the Jesus way instead. The only approval you'll ever need you've already got - God's. 'God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure' (Eph. 1:5 NLT).
written by Bob Gass
