Don't succumb to the pressure

“Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.” John 6:15, NIV.

Many years ago, we used to preach and teach against peer pressure.  Stuff like:

  • Don't follow the crowd
  • Be your own person
  • Don't let the world squeeze you into its mould (see Romans 12:1-2  Phillips paraphrase)
  • Be tough!  Stand up for Jesus!

Jesus' peer pressure was really quite different in this story.  The crowd loved Jesus.  They imagined him as the ruling and reigning king.  Jesus was capable.  He was a charismatic ruler/ leader and He was attracting large crowds.  He has just fed 5,000 men, plus women and children, with five barley loaves and two fishes.  That's the kind of political leader that could take the Jewish nation back from Rome.

But, Jesus would not succumb to the pressure.  John tells us that Jesus withdrew again to a mountain by himself.


  1. Jesus withdrew again.  This tells me that this wasn't the first time Jesus did this kind of thing.  It was a pattern He had developed in his life.  What kind of patterns are we developing?  What are we doing repetitively that if we stop--we notice right away?  Is it watching the news?  Is it our morning coffee?  Is it listening to the radio in the car?  All those things are habits.  Those habits are developed through repetitive actions.   But let's push ourselves to ask:  what actions are we doing that will produce a spiritual habit?
    • Our Belief System
      If you accept a Belief, You reap a Thought. If you sow a Thought, You reap an Attitude. If you sow an Attitude, You reap an Action.
      If you sow an Action, You reap a Habit.
      If you sow a Habit, You reap a Character. If you sow a Character, You reap a Destiny.
      Summary: Take care, because your beliefs grow into your Destiny
    • (See http://rtfi.org/?q=download/destiny-poem,  accessed 21 Dec, 2014)
  2. ...to a mountain by himself.  Jesus learned--these many times--that solitude was important.   Jesus learned the difference between loneliness and solitude.   Being lonely means being all alone.  Loneliness leads to boredom anxiety, making dumb choices, and emptiness.  Solitude is the opposite.  It is totally enriching.  It is shutting out the hustle and bustle and busyness of life to sit at Father's feet.  It is finding that place of rich intimacy with Father.  It is like Mary sitting at Father's feet.   Jesus learned this.  Jesus needed this.  THIS enabled Jesus NOT to succumb to the pressures of the people.  

One of the quickest leadership lessons to learn is this:  create your own agenda.  If you do not--everyone will create one for you.  These people had an agenda for Jesus.
Everyone you know has an agenda all ready for you--you just need to step up to the plate and do it!
Or, you need to 
a)  Do your USUAL habitual, character building exercise.  You know, the thing you do continually!

b)  Be alone with Father and do what HE tells you to do!

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