Mark 15:1-20; 1 Kings 10; Hosea 11:12; Hosea 12

“Pilate answered and said to them again, ‘What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?’ So they cried out again, ‘Crucify Him!’” (Mark 15:12-13 NKJV)

Politicians have been following popular opinion polls for a long time, even if popular opinion goes against what they believed to be right. Pilate knew that the right thing to do was release Jesus. Instead, he took a poll and the cry from the crowd was nearly unanimous: crucify Jesus. So Pilate, instead of doing the right thing, followed popular opinion and had Jesus scourged and crucified.

It’s easy to join in with the popular opinions of the times instead of following God’s word. Life can be more enjoyable when we don’t make waves and get along with people. The problem with that is that God has expectations for us. If He’s Lord of all, though, He has the right to have those expectations. We’re called to be holy, which doesn’t mean “better than other people,” it means separated for God. As we look at the issues of today, we need to look at them from God’s perspective instead of popular opinion. Without mentioning specific issues, because I’ll forget some, as followers of Christ we should always love people who follow the popular opinion, even when it goes against God’s ways, but we should always keep our hearts and minds focused on God’s plan.

Lord, we live amongst people who don’t understand their need for Your grace. We live in a world that has no concept of separation from You. Help us to stay true to Your ways, and to love others as Jesus did at the same time.