June 22–Diing the Right Thing 

Good Monday to you! I hope you had a great weekend and a wonderful time in worship with fellow believers. We had a great time in Kentucky with relatives and we went to church in a 140-year old sanctuary with big, brass pipes for the organ. It was so sweet to watch my uncle taking up the offering down those old isles. I wanted to tell everyone around me “That’s my Uncle Buddy!” “Hey, do you know who I am?” Too funny, right?


I’ve been reading through the book of John again and I got stuck at the place where Pilate basically asks Jesus “Do you know who I am?” And when we read that, it’s almost laughable because we know who Jesus was and we barely know anything about Pilate. (“Rich and Poor, Jesus is the maker of them all!”)


“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.””

‭‭John‬ ‭19:10-12‬ ‭NIV‬‬


Poor Pilate. He was caught between heaven and hell. He wanted to set Jesus free. He wanted to be just, honest and principled and in his heart, he really wanted to just do what was right. He even said three times “I don’t find anything wrong with this guy!” But Pilate was not brave enough to do what was right. He wasn’t man enough to stand up to the pressure from the world and so, he caved in. 


Does that sound the least bit familiar? Are there times in our lives that we know what’s right, we want to do what’s right, but it’s not popular. People might look at us differently or be offended by us or be angry at us—it’s really hard. So do we go ahead no matter how hard and do the right thing? Or do we cave in? 


One thing I do know, the more times you do with right thing, the easier it becomes to do it the next time. But does it ever get “easy?” Probably not. But do you know who we are? Do you know who our Father is? And nothing can stop the Lord God Almighty!


Dear Father of Light, thank you for your blessed gift when you gave the power to someone else. Help us Lord to learn from Pilate and not bow to outside pressures. Help us to follow you and follow your Word. What a great God and what a wonderful Savior you are! We love you, adore you and bow before you, O Lord. We praise you for your great grace and for your forgiveness for every time we have failed and brought sadness to you. Your love is the balm to my soul. Amen and amen. 


Love you dear one,

Pam




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