Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. Hebrews 13:13
Following the crowd is what most people are willing to do. Very few want to be completely alone or separated from others. In every nation there are major cities filled with the majority of people of the nation. Living in those cities allows a person to be close to where everyone else is, close to the action and close to the entertainment. Even with all of its challenges, it gives people what they want and does not make them appear to be any different.
As the writer of Hebrews concludes his letter, he encourages the people to go to Jesus outside the camp and bear His disgrace that He bore on the cross.
It is easy to follow a crowd because everyone is going the same direction. No one is immediately isolated, and no one is really looking at anyone else. It makes a person feel as if they are included and not missing out on something great.
Yet, often following the crowd will lead a person right off the cliff to one’s death. The world will lead everyone together straight into the pits of hell for eternity.
Being different, believers are to leave the crowds and go to where Jesus is. This means going out of the crowds to where the cross is, bearing their cross daily, dying to self. Jesus called all believers to be separate and holy, set apart and different from the world.
As the believer walks this lonely path the world will ridicule and cut down the believer. One will need to bear the reproach of Jesus as one seeks the true kingdom yet to come. However, it will be worth it in the end when Jesus returns, and one receives eternal life in heaven.
All around you the world is walking down a path as a crowd into sin and death. It will be easy for you to blend in with the crowd, following the same path. Do not allow the crowd to dictate the direction of your life. Put your trust in Jesus and go where He is. It may be outside the city to the cross, but it is one that bears life in the end. Allow God to change your life and guide it into His holiness and righteousness, not following the crowd to death in sin.
Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will know where Jesus is working; that you will seek God’s presence at all times; that God will give you strength to go against the flow of the crowd; and that you will know the hope you have in Jesus.
Photo by Cemrecan Yurtman on Unsplash
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