GROWTH by Stuart Macklin
THE PROCESS The Creator of heaven and earth, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and End turned up on the shores of Galilee and looked at Simon (Peter) and His brother Andrew and said ‘follow me’. At that time, Peter had the priority of providing for his family. Yet Jesus called to him and he followed immediately. I sometimes wonder what went through Peter’s mind as he lay everything down — what would this mean? Did he worry about whether his family would be okay? He must have had so many unanswered questions, and yet he answered the call based on the speculation that this man that he had barely met might be the savior of the world. Becoming Jesus’ apprentice was probably nothing like what they expected. I would imagine that they thought they would build a resistance force capable of rising up to overthrow the Roman occupying force. It must have been quite strange to watch the miracles of God’s power unfold. Their perception of what they might become was based on who Jesus was and what He meant to each of them, not in their own strength or abilities. Jesus was to reveal His kingdom through uneducated men and help them be expressions of His love through healing, restoring, and teaching others. They would become Jesus’ disciples and eventually be commissioned into leadership. They would go on to study how He lived and the motivation behind His actions. They would learn first-hand from the stories He told and ultimately walk in His authority, leading people into His kingdom. He would do all of this through freewill and love. Peter’s journey was not easy. Throughout his life and leadership, he would go on to struggle with a desire for power and control. He would fear for his life and deny Jesus. He would experience condemnation and judgment, he would do the wrong thing at the wrong time. Paul writes in Galatians how he had to correct Peter around 15 years after Jesus’ ascension into heaven. We are imperfect as Peter was imperfect, but that should not stop us from running a champion’s race of truth and love in Christ. But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions? - Galatians 2:11-14
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