Peter Followed God
But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, some of the Jewish believers criticized him. "You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!" they said. -- Acts 11:2 (NLT)
Poor Peter! He'd done a wonderful thing. He listened to God. He shared the Good News about Jesus. He witnessed the Gentiles receive the Holy Spirit. Then Peter baptized those same Gentiles. All good things. But wouldn't you know it? Somebody had to criticize him.
It's sort of like when you volunteer at a homeless shelter and people can't believe you spend time with "those people." Or when you contribute financially to an overseas mission project and people criticize you for supporting international missions rather than domestic projects. Of course, they usually don't do either but that doesn't seem to matter.
Peter also got criticized for violating the Jewish rules of proper behavior. Sometimes you need to break the rules. Like when God tells you to do something else. In my world, what God says is just how it is. People don't always like that. Frankly, I don't always like it. So what? I learned a long time ago that He knows what He's doing. Follow God and you'll never go wrong.
I'm grateful Peter violated the Jewish rules of proper behavior. I'm thankful that he listened to God and went and explained who Jesus is to the Gentiles. You know. People like me. God put out the welcome mat for everyone to come and drink from the well of eternal life. I'm a recipient of that. I get to be adopted. I get forever in heaven. I'm included in God's family. How AWESOME is that!
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