I may not see in front of me, But I can see for miles around when I look over my shoulder, and Lord, it`s clear. You`ve brought me here, So faithful every step of the way. What can I do but follow you, For You are the Way, the Truth, the Life, And You`ve promised never to leave me, My Savior, my friend, From beginning to end.
I Am Found In You
by
Steven Curtis Chapman
Then He warned His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ. Matthew 16:20 NIV
Peter had just answered the most important question in the Bible. Jesus had asked “Who do you say I am?” Others had claimed that Jesus was John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets, but Peter boldly proclaimed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God! He gave the right answer.
One would think Jesus would have said, “That’s right Peter. Now go tell that fact to everyone you know.” Instead, Jesus warned His disciples “not to tell anyone”. This statement confused my son while he was reading it recently. “Why would Jesus say something like that? I thought He wanted people to believe He is the Christ!” And the answer is that He does, just not that way.
You see, Jesus was growing in popularity. He was doing miracles, healing people, and crowds were following Him wherever He went. You may recall the number of times He tried to find a quiet moment and yet the people found Him. Jesus wanted the people to search Him for who He was, not just for His ability to perform miracles. He wanted them to believe in Him as Peter had, as a choice, not under persuasion.
It would have been easy for Peter to start a “worship Christ” campaign of the month and sign everyone up as new Christians, but no one would have really experienced a life-changing experience with Christ as Peter had. Christ wanted people to reach that decision on their own.
Today, as we share Christ’s love with others, it isn’t our job to twist arms into belief or even to “sell Jesus” to the lost world. Our job is simply to present the facts of who Jesus is and to let people decide whether they want to believe. Someone once presented the Truth of Jesus to me...and I believed. He IS the Christ, the Son of the Living God!
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