In 1958, I was brokenhearted over a news story about seven teenage boys who stood trial for murdering a crippled boy. The Holy Spirit stirred in me so strongly that I felt led to go to the New York courthouse where the trial was taking place, and I entered the courtroom convinced the Spirit had prompted me to try to talk to those youngsters.
When I asked the Holy Spirit to show me how to guard against neglect, he led me to consider Peter’s drifting and his eventual renewal. This man denied Christ, even cursing, telling his accuser, “I don’t know him.”
Yet Peter was the first among the disciples to give up the struggle. He forsook his calling and returned to his old career, telling the others, “I’m going fishing.” What he really was saying is, “I can’t handle this. I had thought I couldn’t fail, but nobody ever failed God worse than I did. I just can’t face the struggle anymore.”
At some point in our Christian walk, we cross over what could be referred to as the “obedience line.” That is when someone determines in his heart to go all the way with the Lord. When he realizes that nothing in this world can hold him and he resolves to obey God’s Word in all ways and at all costs.
Jesus said, “I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you” (John 14:18). Christ had gathered his chosen ones for a last moment of communion just before he went to the cross. How sad and sorrowful these men were. Their sole source of comfort on the earth was being taken from them.
Jesus was their guide, teacher, joy, peace and hope, and now he was physically leaving them. They had built their entire world around him and he would no longer be with them.
There were ten thousand or more reasons for people to love Jesus and not one reason to hate him. The four Gospels portray him as kind, patient, long-suffering, full of tenderness, forgiving, not willing that one person should perish. He is called a shepherd, a teacher, a brother, a light in darkness, a physician, an advocate, a reconciler. Jesus gave no cause whatsoever that he should be hated by anyone.
Paul often refers to himself as “the prisoner of Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:1). Paul also wrote, “Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner” (2 Timothy 1:8). Even into his old age, Paul rejoiced that he had been apprehended by the Lord and taken captive to his will (see Philemon 9).
“He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He also brought me into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me” (Psalm 18:16-19).
It is always good to take a step of faith when we have placed our trust in Christ. This kind of faith is to be applauded. Yet the Bible shows us there is great danger if we don’t follow up on that first step with increased faith.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
Most Christians know what the Bible says about God’s great love for his children, yet many have never learned to appropriate that love, even after years of faithfully walking with Jesus. There are dedicated servants of God who have never enjoyed the glorious experience and benefits of knowing the Father’s love — and nothing saddens God’s heart more.
No one can number all of Christ’s tender mercies and the manifold blessings of his shed blood. But let’s focus on one victory in particular: the forgiveness of all past sins.
“If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin … If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:7, 9).