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Daily in the Word|Daily in the Word for Thursday, October 16, 2008 Episode
Stand Your Ground
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Mark 8:34–38
Who would you rather please—God or man?
Once a spider built a beautiful web in an old house. He kept it clean and shiny so that flies would patronize it. Then one day this fairly intelligent fly came buzzing by the clean web. Old man spider called out, “Come in and sit.” But the fairly intelligent fly said, “No, sir. I don't see other flies in your house, and I am not going in alone!”
At the same time he saw on the floor below a large crowd of flies dancing around on a piece of brown paper. He was delighted! He was not afraid since lots of flies were doing it. So he came in for a landing; just before he landed, a bee zoomed by, saying, “Don't land there, stupid! That's flypaper!” But the fairly intelligent fly shouted back, “Don't be silly. Those flies are dancing. There's a big crowd there. Everybody's doing it. That many flies can't be wrong!” Well, you know what happened. He died on the spot.
This story perfectly illustrates our lives. We, like the fly, are fairly intelligent. We know it’s wrong to sin and have been taught to avoid it. We know what sin looks like and many times recognize the devil’s attempts to lure us into sin. But it’s the pull of seeing others in “fun” that usually causes us to fall.
Many times youth pastors or high school teachers drive home the fact to teens not to give in to peer pressure. But as adults that pressure is just as present! Whether through work, neighborhood friends, or simply people in society, we are targeted to feel “left out” of all the fun going on in the world today.
Think of the two different pulls. The world pulls you to do wrong. Of course it looks appealing and there is fun involved. Everyone is a part of it. You won’t be considered socially acceptable unless you take part. But think of Christ. He is pulling us to do right. He doesn’t promise a carefree, easy life if we follow Him, but He does promise future blessings. You may not be socially acceptable, but you will be precious in His sight.
So which way will you go when the peer pressure sets in? Will you give in to the immediate gratification of this world, or will you choose to follow the Lord and live for Heaven’s blessings? Stand your ground when others pull you to do wrong. Don’t give in. Next time you are faced with negative peer pressure, ask yourself this question: “Who do I really want to please—God or man?”
To learn more about the ministries of Lancaster Baptist Church and Pastor Chappell, please visit lancasterbaptist.org.
Daily Bible Reading
Isaiah 47-49• 1 Thessalonians 4
[ Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:12:18 -0700 ]
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