GOING ASTRAY vs. GOING AWAY By Pastor Simeon Afolabi “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?” John 6:66-67 There is a difference between going astray and going away from the Lord. To go astray is to vacillate; to show inconsistency sometimes in our beliefs or even practices. In some cases it may even involve missing the mark or standard of God’s righteousness. If the truth is told, most Christians through the pages of the history book will confess to some moments of dilly-dallying with the Lord. No one who has walked the Christian path for a while will fail to agree with the Psalmist that if God were to mark iniquity no one would be able to stand. We are still accepted in the Beloved today because of the unfailing love and mercy of God. The essence of today’s meditation is to stress the point that going astray does not have to mean going away totally from the Lord. From the parable of the prodigal son we have it on good authority that the Father’s heart is always yearning, and His hands wide open to receive us when we stray. Provided we return, of course. Peter and Judas can help illustrate this point better. When Peter denied with an oath that he never knew the Lord, that’s some moment of straying in his faith. But the moment the cock crew and he remembered the word of the Lord, he broke down in tears, repenting. He moved on from there to head the church at its infancy. Judas, on the other hand, sold the Master for 30 pieces of silver. That is also going astray. But instead of returning to the Lord upon conviction and repent, he went and hung himself. That is going away. No matter how many times you go astray, never yield to the temptation to go away from your Lord. Come back to Him with broken and contrite heart; He will pardon you and give you a new start. FURTHER STUDY: ISAIAH 53:1-6 PRAYER: Father, thank you that I can always count on Your love to begin again.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 05:39:09 +0000
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