Day 244: Proximity

John 18:19-38; 2 Chronicles 27-28; Psalm 84

In this telling of Peter's three denials, there are two questions: the first two times, the people ask Peter if he is one of Jesus' followers. He refuses such a claim. At that moment, he is unwilling to say that he is a disciple of The Lord, someone who learned his teachings, watched him do miracles, travelled with him all over the place. The last questions, isn't even about Peter's love or discipleship of Jesus, but simply his proximity to him: "Didn't I see you in the garden with that man?" At this point, Peter could have said yes, he was in the same location, but even such a claim is too much for Peter to admit to. Even being around Jesus is shameful (at that moment) in Peter's eyes and so he denies even that. If we are unwilling to be called followers of Jesus, if we don't want to admit that, then are we even going to want to admit that we are "Christians," a word that seems to hold very little value these days? Peter was an all or nothing type of guy, which in some ways is good. Here, he shows us that if we aren't going to be all in for Jesus, then we might as well be completely out.

Jotham did a good job of leading Judah; his son did a great job of screwing it all up. Ahaz made idols, offered sacrifices, including his OWN SONS. He was so despicable, God virtually wiped out Judah. Thankfully, God was still watching out for the people, so when they were taken prisoner, he rescues them. They were suffering because of their terrible and ungodly leader. There are a lot of factors that could be examined in this story. For instance, why was Ahaz such a terrible dude when his father was a decent guy? Maybe he neglected his children and so they were not raised loving The Lord. Maybe Ahaz just decided that he didn't trust God and wanted to do a religion his own way. Towards the end of chapter 28, he thinks that maybe all this bad stuff has happened to Judah because the foreign gods are helping them, so he decides to try out worshipping them and see what happens. He sounds like a wishy-washy guy, trying to get whatever might be best for him.

This Psalm talks about the incredible blessing and life that flows from The Lord. The psalmist is so excited just to be in God's presence, just to serve in the temple. We should love The Lord so much that we don't need anything more from him except his presence, being in close proximity to him. We shouldn't love God just because of what he gives us, his blessings, his protection. God deserves praise not because of what he does and can do for us, but simply because of who he is.