Pressure to Deny

Mark 14: ⁶⁶ Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. ⁶⁷ And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are saying.” And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed.

⁶⁹ And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, “This is one of them.” ⁷⁰ But he denied it again.

And a little later those who stood by said to Peter again, “Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it.”

⁷¹ Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this Man of whom you speak!”

⁷² A second time the rooster crowed. Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And when he thought about it, he wept.

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Crash, bang, slam were the noises the heavy sleds made as they tumbled off the shelves. I wanted to see one of them and all of them tumbled down. “Were you in that section of the store” was the question posed to me. “I don’t know” was the best answer I could give. I mean was I in trouble?

• There were times when I did not want to face consequence.
• There were times when I denied the truth so I could get out of trouble.
• There were times when I did not want to admit I was the cause of the trouble.

Peter faced a life or death situation. If He told the truth about being with JESUS, he would be captured, tortured and killed. He did what most would do, try to save himself by lying. Unfortunately, I would have done the same.

• JESUS wants me to mature to the point where I will not deny HIM.
• JESUS wants me to grow up so I will not forsake HIS ways.
• JESUS wants me to understand that following HIM means I will be ridiculed by HIS creation.

There are no front page stories about people who dedicate themselves to CHRIST. Even if there is not a word of judgment spoken, people find ways to look at innocent followers of GOD in a bad light.

I get lumped into political “Christians” simply by not doing what others are doing. If I say “I will never drink again”, people look at me as if I had a drinking problem that must have gotten out of control instead of saying “Wow, you are dedicating yourself to GOD.”  JESUS values what I do for HIM and does not want me to be ashamed of HIM so HE will not be ashamed of me.

• Is society pressuring you to hide your relationship with CHRIST?
• Do you feel pressure to act like everyone else so you will fit in?
• Can you stop trying to fit in and listen to GOD who made you for HIS purpose today?