John 18:12-18
The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” (John 18:17 ESV)
In every journey of faith there is a decision point. Truthfully there are many many times you will be faced with tough decisions. But some of those will be more difficult than others.
Jesus had been arrested and his disciples fled. Well, almost all of them. Peter and another disciple had followed Jesus into the compound of the Jewish High Priest. It was a dangerous place for them to be found.
While there Peter was identified as a follower of Jesus. Suddenly his anonymity was gone, and he was faced with a potentially mortal question. "Are you a disciple?" And Peter did the unthinkable, he denied Jesus.
You will probably find yourself in a similar place in this life. At some point down the road you will be on hostile territory, surrounded by people who don't understand you, and they will pointedly ask if you have any allegiance to Jesus. Sometimes this can be an overt kind of persecution that leads possible violence. Or, as is often the case in western cultures, it is the prelude to quiet disdain and snarky rejection.
How will you answer the question when you are asked? Will the weight of the circumstances influence your decision?