Tuned In – Palm Valley Youth

posted by: Darius Sanders

Scripture
John 19:22
Pilate replied, “No, what I have written, I have written.”

Observation / Own Words
Pilate ultimately made the decision to have Jesus killed.  He made that decision because he went with the crowd. 

On the cross that Jesus hung from, Pilate had a sign posted that said, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”   The leading priests were furious that he wrote that and they wanted him to change it to “He said, I am King of the Jews.” 

Pilate stood up for what he believed in in this situation and told the leading priests that what he wrote was going to stay on the sign.  It was good to see that even though Pilate made a poor decision by following the crowd’s advice, he stuck with his guns later on and made the decision to stand up for what was right.

Application
It is easy to get pressured into making poor decisions as a result of following the crowd.  After all, if you want to be liked by people, doing what they want you to do is a good way to gain their approval.  We need to keep in mind that the decision the majority wants us to make is not necessarily the wisest or best decision.

This reminds me of the decision that I made not to let high school students take their cell phones on the GO Mission Trip.  They weren’t exactly trilled about that decision.  I had to let them know however that I wanted that week to be free from distractions because that would be the best way for them to truly minister into the kids lives.  Making that unpopular decision was hard and it did cause me to be disliked for a while, but I knew in my heart that it was the right decision to make. 

After the trip was over, I actually had some students thank me for not allowing them to bring their phones because it was the most spiritually significant week of their lives.  Praise God that he used an unpopular decision like that to get a hold of students’ hearts in a greater way.

Prayer
God, making unpopular decisions is a hard thing to do.  However, like Pilate, I pray that I would make the right hard decisions even if they cause me to be disliked in life.  I’m living my life for You and I pray that as long as the decisions I make in life please You, I would stick by those decisions, even if they are unpopular.