5 Steps To Walking Away From Jesus

                When we look at Luke 22:54-71, we see Peter's denial of Jesus Christ and Jesus' trial. Today, we will focus more on Peter's denial. First, we will start off with saying this: anytime you get into an argument with God, you are wrong. Jesus told Peter that he would walk away, and Peter refused to believe it. Unforgettably  but predictably, Jesus was right and Peter denied Jesus three times withing a few hours.

                Just think about this question to yourselves: do you know someone who has walked away from Jesus Christ? Sadly, Chances are almost everyone who read that sentence could raise their hand and name someone, maybe even themselves. When we break down Peter's actions, we can see five steps that we take to walk away from Jesus Christ.

                Step 1: Follow at a distance. In Luke 22:54, Peter follows Jesus to His court location, but he follows from a distance. When we follow from a distance, it is implied that there is some degree of separation  Amos 3:3 says, "Can two walk together, unless they are agreed." When we start to walk at a distance from God, we begin to walk in a way that is not totally agreeing with His will and His word and we begin to compromise what was once firm in our hearts.

                Step 2: Pride. In Luke 22:31-34, Peter argues with Jesus, telling Him that he would die for Jesus and would never leave His side. As sweet and poetic as this is, it should get us angry. Peter, a human man, was arguing with God saying that Jesus was wrong and that he was right. Our pride will get us into trouble, especially when we think we know better than God. If you have an alcohol problem, and you say that you will only go out drinking on the weekend because you say that you know how to handle your alcohol, do not be surprised if you begin to drink every night of the week. We cannot be so foolish! Again, anytime we get into an argument with God, we are wrong.

                Step 3: Failure to pray. In Luke 22:46, Jesus, for the first time that we have ever read in the Bible, asks His disciples to pray for Him. He was only a stone's throw away from them. You could probably even hear Him praying if He got loud. What did the disciples do, though? "When He arose from prayer and went back to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 'Why are you sleeping?' He asked them. 'Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.'" (Luke 22:45-46) Jesus calls us to pray, and when we do not we will fall into temptation. That is a fact. Failure to pray will lead to temptation, no if's, and's or but's about it.

                Step 4: Trying to fight in the flesh. When Peter did not pray and the Romans came to arrest Jesus, Peter responded with violence and cut off a man's ear. Jesus, being God, healed the man's ear and told Him, in Matthew 26:53, "Do you think I cannot call my Father and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" Again, as I said, that is over 60,000 angels, and we read in 2 Kings 19:35 that a single angel can kill 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Jesus could have lived in the fleshly desires, but He decided to live in the spirit. We begin to walk away when we stop operating in the Holy Spirit and start to operate in our flesh.

                Step 5: Failure to respond to the warning signs. When Jesus told Peter that He would deny Him three times before a certain sign, Peter did not look out for the sign. We will not be looking for rooster crows, but here are warning signs for us: Stop reading the Bible, stop praying, stop going to church, avoid Christian communities, not wanting to serve others the way God instructs us to, and not wanting to invest int he Kingdom of God.

                There are the five steps of a Christian who is walking away from Jesus Christ. How many steps have you taken? When the Israelites were brought out of Egypt, and saw the ten plagues, and the Red sea open for them and close on their enemies, they were excited for God. How long did it take for them to turn away from God the next time? Less than forty days. It could take us less than forty days to fall into these steps. We must watch ourselves and be on guard at all times.


                                                                                                                                         -D