FRIENDS
FLED
First
of seven in Passion for Redemption
Parallel Bible Series
Psalm
88:18, Zechariah 13:7, Matthew 26:31, 56, Luke 23:49
Psalm
88:18: “You have taken my companions and
loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend.”
Zechariah
13:7: “‘Awake, O sword, my shepherd,
against the man who is close to me!’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
Matthew
26:31: “Then Jesus told them, ‘this very night you will all fall away on account of Me, for
it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock
will be scattered.’”
Luke
23:49: “But all those who knew Him,
including the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance,
watching these things.”
This first devotion in Passion for Redemption will peer closely
into Jesus’ last week of His earthly life.
Beaten Bloody devotion showed that Jesus was severely whipped at
the flogging Pilate ordered. Roman flogging intended to hasten criminals’
death at their crucifixion. Jesus was
flogged after His arrest, when many of His disciples fled.
No one knows the heart of a
friend. We grow close to people at work
and at play. We think we’re tight, but
that’s not always right. We learn the
truth about people when being tested.
At one job, I listened to fellow
employees gripe about our low wages. I
had worked for a different company that paid more than what I currently received. In order to improve the quality of our lives,
I called an “all hands on deck” meeting, notifying management as well as
employees. My fellow employees got nervous. “What’s this about?” they asked me.
“I’m going to ask for higher wages!”
I told them. Everyone seated around a
circular meeting table, I pled my case. There
are problems I had as a single mother to make ends meet, I explained. Management listened intently. When called on to give their opinions, not
one coworker spoke up in agreement with me!
My coworkers were still there in
person, but truly, they had all fled!
Peter had denied Jesus three times
(Matthew 26:69-75). “When Judas who had
betrayed Him saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse, and
returned the thirty pieces of silver coins to the chief priests and elders.
(Matthew 26:3). Both disciples knew Jesus
had predicted their falling away.
When the going gets tough, who needs
friends who flee?
Take
Home Nugget
After the meeting
ended, the president called me into his office.
“Call me, if you ever need a job!” he said in confidence.
What do you think about that?
Check out the lesson linked below to see when Jesus’
disciples fled.
Standing up for principles sometimes means
standing up for others, even when they flee.
J.D.
Griffith
A
personal, private lesson experience with our staff
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