And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. (Mark 14:54)
Peter is like so many people. They will follow Christ at a distance. Perhaps they enter into church life on Sundays. But, they will not fully commit to following Him the rest of the week. Like Peter, they stand on the edges warming themselves with the fire of the Holy Spirit, being careful not to risk getting singed in the process. They definitely do not want to stand out in the crowd and appear to be over religious—a Jesus freak. Nope, just blend in. It is safer. Your religion is your business.
But as with Peter, people will recognize if we have been with the Savior. His light glows in us. We may even look and act a bit different. What do we do then? Shake our heads and claim He is not that important to us for fear of ridicule?
It is easy for me to straighten my back and declare, “No, way!” As a Christian writer, I could claim that I follow Jesus in all that I do, but that wouldn’t be totally truthful. As I look at my daily life I have to ask –
Am I being more like Peter today?
How much of my secular weekday is spent standing on the perimeter of my faith walk where it is safer?
Are there days I’d rather hide the fact that I serve Christ and just serve myself instead?
Do I dare follow Jesus all the way, even if it means entering into a situation in which I would feel very uncomfortable?
I think these are questions we each need to ask from time to time, don’t you agree?
