Monday, June 28, 2010

...And he fled, naked...

For weeks now, Mark 14:51 has been dancing around in my head.

A young man was following along. All he had on was a bedsheet. Some of the men grabbed him but he got away, running off naked, leaving them holding the sheet.
Mark 14:51 (The Message Translation)


The story speaks of a young man (let's call him Malcom) who followed Christ until Christ's arrest. When faced with the angry crowd, he fled. The Bible records that he fled naked!

A part of me goes out to this unamed man.
A part of me wonders where he fled to and how he felt after he got to where he found refuge!
I bet that like Peter, he wept! Remorseful about what he had done.
A part of me sees a part of me in him!

Many times i am like Malcom!
Where it matters most, i remain silent.
Were the world is speaking in one voice. I do not dare to oppose even with the words of Christ!
Where people sit on the fence on issues like abortion, euthenasia and sexual immorality, i sometimes speak political correctness over solid truth!

At these points when i betray God, i am like Malcom. I flee naked! I am exposed! I am open to ridicule! In a bid to try not to be ridiculed by the world, i open myself to ridicule by these same people that i seek to please!

Remember, "if anyone rejects me before men, i will reject him before my father that is in heaven..." These are the words of Christ!

We flee naked when we do not love the unlovable!
We flee naked when we slander the called servants of God!
We flee naked when we do not use our God given talents for the reasons they were given to us!
We flee naked when we join the world to murmur and complain!
We flee naked when we choose night clubs over night vigils!
We flee naked when we slander one another in church!
We flee naked when make concessions here and there and bend the truth!
We flee naked when we are not living in line with God's will for our lives!

I do not know what became of Malcom. The Bible has no records. But if Malcom got to his secret hide out, lay down and wept for shame at his betrayal, i am convinced that the God of Genesis 3:21 would have met him right there, dried his tears, clothed him and re-assured him!


For Adam also and for his wife the Lord God made long coats (tunics) of skins and clothed them.
Genesis 3:21 (The Amplified Version)


Somehow i feel that a deeper message will come out of Malcom's story but for now, the thoughts are still dancing around my head.

Let us pray.

Dear Lord,

We come to you in the name of your precious son.
Many times we are like Malcom o Lord
Many times we flee from you when it matters most!
Forgive us Lord.
Give us the renewed boldness you gave Peter (after the resurrection)
Give us the Spirit of Boldness
Let your love so abide in our hearts that we may continually stand for you irrespective of the political, religious or eceonomic weather around us.
You are a God of a second chance!
We thank you and take advantage of the 2nd chance (for the 123456733245th time)
and we pray Lord that this time, we will get it right!
We love you Lord!

2 Comments:

Blogger Pea said...

Amen and Amen. I read this earlier but didn't manage to comment.

"In a bid to try not to be ridiculed by the world, i open myself to ridicule by these same people that i seek to please!" - how very true!! Thanks for sharing!

July 15, 2010 at 7:58 AM  
Blogger Tehilah said...

Thanks for dropping by pea!
God bless!

July 19, 2010 at 7:39 AM  

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