Standing on the Rock

John 6:67

"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.

After teaching a particularly difficult lesson, a number of Jesus' early disciples turned away from following Him.  This was a crisis time in the early church.  At that point Jesus inquired of His apostles, "You do not want to leave too, do you?"  If the apostles had chosen to walk away from Jesus because His teaching was too hard, where would the church be today?

We are in a crisis time in our churches today.  Pastors are being challenged to answer Jesus' question regularly.  Unfortunately, too many of them are quick to create new standards when their beliefs are different from the clear directives of God's Holy Word.  The arguments presented by the pastors who are turning away from the teachings of Jesus are so eloquent and enticing.  They provide a pathway that seems easier and more attuned to our fleshly desires or, at the very least, is more compliant with what we are willing to tolerate. 

We must decide how we will answer Jesus' question.  Are we going to walk away from His Holy Word and seek out and accept our own new version of Scripture? Are we going to choose not to follow God's Holy Word as it is written?  In effect, are we going to walk away from Jesus because His lessons are too hard for us to follow?

Let us stand with the apostles.  Let us stand on the Rock.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided Your inerrant Word for us to follow.  We pray that You enlighten us.  We ask that You open our minds so that we may understand the exact standard to which You are calling us.  We beseech You that You may perfect Your strength in our weakness so that we may be steadfast in following the way, the truth and the life that is Your Son, Jesus.  We ask all these things in the name of the Rock upon whom we stand, Jesus Christ.