Following At A Distance

“Peter followed at a distance…Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him…And he went outside and wept bitterly.” Luke 22:54, 61-62

Now before we judge Peter too severely this story can easily represent the spiritual seasons of which we move in and out. The scene of Peter’s denial of knowing Christ was literally moments after Peter attacked the high priest with a sword who had arrived to arrest Jesus. Peter was rebuked by Jesus through the explanation that His time was near and God’s predetermined purposes must come to pass. Luke records a chilling statement made by Jesus to those who had come for him. ‘But this is your hour – when darkness reigns!’ Satan was unleashed and evil would prevail for now. This spiritual climate must have settled in on Peter with fear because just moments later we find Peter ‘following at a distance (Luke 22:54).

‘Following at a distance’ – sound familiar? The Holy Spirit gives us guidance and reveals the ‘word the Lord has spoken to us’. At times we have all taken these words and put them aside, placed them on the back burner or even denied we ever heard them. We become like Peter who sat at the fire of the enemy denying his part in it all. We warm our hands against indifference and detachment when we face fear or unpleasant situations. We forget the very words God gives us as soon as the heat comes. We must stay up close and personal in fellowship with Christ so we will not warm our hands in evil’s fire.

The grief that Peter felt as Jesus looked upon his denial is no doubt the same grief we feel upon conviction in our lives. I will never forget the spiritual heaviness I felt the morning after I had failed to say a public prayer at an event that I knew God had led me to prepare. My feet got cold and I made my way up to the fire of the enemy. I sat by that fire and allowed him to convince me that the people did not want to hear me pray and that I would be ridiculed. I got burned that night just like Peter. The next morning I arose and wept bitterly. The weight of my denial of God’s words to be shared with those the night before hit me like a train. I had missed out on providing others with an opportunity for them to experience God in that environment – at a Christmas gathering to make matters worse.

We cannot follow Him at a distance or we will develop cold feet spiritually. We will be lured to the fire of the enemy for false warmth and spiritual darkness. We must stick close to Christ so that His words will be our words and His heart will be our heart. The Holy Spirit enables full access to God if we stay connected to the Spirit.

But this is your hour - let righteousness reign!