John 18:25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”
The Red Badge of Courage is a war novel by American author Stephen Crane published in 1895 some 30 years after the end of the Civil War. Taking place during the American Civil War, the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle. Overcome with shame, he longs for a wound, a "red badge of courage", to counteract his cowardice. When his regiment once again faces the enemy, Henry acts as flag-bearer, carrying the regimental colors. As I recall, I read that story for the first time in 7th grade and through the years have remembered it as a final act of courage and bravery by a young man who struggled to figure out he was. It is not all that different than the life of Peter who joined the disciples. Peter was all in but when it came down to standing on his principles he weakened and struggled.
That is not unlike many believers today. Highly emotional states in worship and prayer have an artificial growth spurt that can’t withstand the pressures of this world. I see a lot of believers that try to live their faith by emotional highs but those very same people are the ones who struggle in their faith when times are difficult or they believe that Christ is not doing what they expect. These are the believers that can quote scripture, pray verbosely and speak of spiritual matters but when something goes wrong like the car breaks down, a friend betrays them or a sudden sickness occurs they are on Facebook talking about how life is unfair and their God has abandoned them.
Some Christians have spiritual arrhythmia in their lives because of a lack of discipline in prayer and worship. We need to understand that sometimes like in the story of the turtle and the hare, SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE. It isn’t the great ups and downs in our relationship that allows us to grow. It is the steady movement of our spiritual life that allows us to become close to Christ and become a stronger as believer.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said,“Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.” and Billy Graham wrote, “To be a disciple is to be committed to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and committed to following Him every day. To be a disciple is also to be disciplined in our bodies, minds, and souls.”
We cannot live on both sides of the fence at the same time. We will get stuck and unble to move. We hear people say, "God is good all the time and all the time God is good."
However, we must also remember that living in the camp of Christ means being all in all the time.
Much love,
Preach
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