Judas, one of the 12 apostles chosen by Jesus, a very active and engaging disciple, smart and intelligent (made him on the treasury position), resourceful and ambitious… what went wrong?

 The love of self.

Idolatry of money and the material things of this world lured him to do a very foolish decision. He was always with Jesus, he saw the power, love and grace of God, being displayed in the person of Jesus. Miracles everyday. The sick being healed, the blind, the deaf, the lame, the leper, the paralytic, the evil-possessed restored, and the dead put back to life. But it didn’t catch Judas attention on who Jesus really is. He just loved himself too much to give a chance to figure out how powerful Jesus is. Judas didn’t even feel the fear of God when Jesus read the minds of the pharisees and all his enemies! How insensitive!

Judas’ mind was so preoccupied by the things of the world and what he desires to achieve. He didn’t even notice the effort Jesus has made just to teach them. I’m sure Judas didn’t even had the thought of asking his colleagues any counseling on what to do with the temptation he’s going through. For me, Judas, didn’t care of the calling he received, no intention of receiving the promises of God spoken through Jesus Christ, it was just all about him, all about Judas.

I realized not only that it’s possible to experience a Judas life in our time but a possibility of a stronger magnitude. Why? Judas walked with Jesus, we didn’t. Just imagine how little faith and fear of God we could be into without personally seeing Jesus walk down the city streets. The apostle Paul warned every believer…

Hebrews 2:1 We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

 1 Corinthians 10:12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

Being active in church is not enough that we consider ourselves strong in the faith. It is withstanding the test of temptation. As Chinkee Tan in his message, “it is not how much bible you read but how much bible you apply.”

Let’s check our walk in faith, is it all about Jesus? or is it all about us?

Written by Jun Gomez