John 18:33-34 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" 34 Jesus answered, "Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?"
I read this scripture this morning, and something struck me, that I had not thought of before. Christ was not just asking Pilate if he thought Jesus was a king, or if Pilate had just heard about Him. No, Christ was asking Pilate “have you been saved?” It might be easy to miss, just as it is today. You see Christ was asking Pilate are you calling me King, or do you just say that because that is what everyone else says? Pilate…..do you believe, or are you just saying what is easy to say? I would imagine that is a question we will all be asked at some point, and I am fairly sure Christ will be asking. It makes me think of our lives, how we live them, what we do, what we say. DO we proclaim Christ is King because we believe it, or because that is the easy thing to do?
In today’s world there are many that might call Christ King, but just as Christ suspected of Pilate, they only profess what they have heard. In short, they are living out Pascal’s wager. For those of you that are not familiar, Pascal was a 17th century philosopher and mathematician. One of the things he is known for was the argument that even if you do not believe in God, you should live as if you do, because the cost of living a life without belief is worse than a life lived as if you do believe. In other words, take a gamble, and take the side with the better payout. This is exactly what we do when we say we believe in Christ, yet knowingly and willingly live a life contradictory to that.
It is an interesting idea though isn’t it? Want the salvation, the grace, the forgiveness, and the love that comes with Christ? Fake it. Just say the words, and all is good. Do your good deeds, give your money, go to church, and life here and in the next will be great. SO if you say it, and you act like it in your deeds, then what is the difference? How will you know, how will the Lord know, how will anyone else ever figure it out? It comes down to defining moments. One very much like Pilate is about to come to in this passage. If Pilate believed Christ was King, would he have washed his hands? Or would he have stood with Christ and proclaimed to the masses, we cannot kill this man He is the Son of God. We encounter moments like this all of the time, it is where the rubber meets the road, where life happens, when it is time to put up or shut up. However you would like to term it, we find ourselves in situations where we too much choose to show grace, love, mercy, forgiveness….what will we do? How will we respond? Will our lives emulate the life of our Savior? Will we show the world the power of Christ by showing His traits through us? Or will we cave? Will we crumble under the pressure of the world and turn our backs?
Maybe that is where you find yourself today. Perhaps you do want to live that life, but you know that you have in the past turned your back. You know that you have professed to be a Christian, but lived a life that is anything but. Here is the good news! It is not too late to change that. Even Peter denied Christ, yet Christ never denied Him. We make these choices every day, and you need to understand that even when we fall short, there is still the next decision to make. Another opportunity, another chance. The promises of God do not have an expiration date. There is not a number of times we can fall, there is not a limit on the number of times we can fail. The salvation is found in the rising. We will stumble, we will fall, what counts is that we get back up. Do not lay on the ground with the rest of the world defeated, simply raising your hand next time someone is looking for a Christ follower. Christ fell three times on the way to that wicked hill. Each time He rose, ready to carry out His task well beyond the limits of His human body. So it is with us, do not resign yourself to live out life as a “safe bet”. Live your life out loud. Live your life looking for those moment to test yourself, and show your Faith. You might stumble, but the world will know you believe, it will know where you stand, and it will know, that in the end, there is but One King!
God Bless,
Brian Thetford
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