Billy Graham referenced the idea of being sidetracked with the following words. “A compass is narrow-minded-it always points to the magnetic north. It seems that is a very narrow view, but a compass is not broad-minded. If it were, all the ships at sea and all the planes in the air would be in danger. We must discipline ourselves, personally, to fight any deviation from the course Jesus set for us. We cannot be tolerant of any other course. To deviate is to sin.”¹ These are sound words on how to keep from living a sidetracked life. The Word of God also helps us with sound words designed to help us run our race.

[Tweet “When it comes to Bible doctrine, major on the majors and minor on the minors.”]

To Keep from Being Sidetracked, Avoid the Ditches

Hebrews 12:1 (KJV) — 1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

• Some get sidetracked from the race God has set for them giving way to weights and sins.
• Others get sidetracked by wrong doctrine.

Galatians 1:6–8 (ESV) — 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.

• Over the course of walking with God for over forty years, I have seen many saints crash into the ditch.
• To keep yourself centered, it’s necessary to become familiar with what I affectionately call the ‘Doctrine of The Ditch.’
• You can articulate it along these lines: the main thing in scripture is to keep the main thing, the main thing.
• When it comes to Bible doctrine, major on the majors and minor on the minors.
• In other words, what the scripture speaks a lot about, you speak a lot about.
• What it doesn’t mention as much, you do the same.
• One of the hardest things is to keep oneself balanced and in the middle of the road.
• Those who violate this wisdom end up swerving into the ditch.
• Balanced middle of the road living and not allowing ourselves to be pulled doctrinally to extremes, is the core of the ‘Ditch Doctrine.’
• As you run your race, you will come across all kinds of people who have jackknifed their lives.
• I’ve met a few, so have you.
• One particular couple took a verse from the Old Testament and used it to say it was a sin to use contraception.
• So, they had one child after another, way more than they could sustain.
• Another person I met got hung up on Hebrew and Greek words for hell and went off on a there is a ‘no hell’ tangent.
• Both of these are examples of people who have spent time in a ‘ditch motel.’
• Time there is wasted time.
• We are supposed to be running the road down.
• Since God is a God of increase, that means we are supposed to be progressing through the quarters of our lives.
• We should know God more today than we did yesterday.
• We should understand His Word better today than yesterday.
• We should be increasing in faith, hope, and love.
• We should not be wasting time ditch hopping.
• Are you a stock car racing fan by any chance?
• There’s a fact you should know about the Daytona 500.
• Most of those who start the race never finish it.
• If you would, they get sidetracked by mechanical failures and equipment malfunctions.
• You simply can’t win a race if you’re not on the track says any good fortune cookie.

Peter Personal Experience with Being Sidetracked

• In the Bible, Peter is one who comes to mind when we are speaking of getting sidetracked into a ditch.
• Early in his walk, he was a ditch jumper supreme.

Matthew 16:13-16 (NLT) 13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

• Verse fourteen relays four different opinions the general population gave concerning Jesus identity.
• All four of these beliefs were wrong.
• The truth was not found in the majority in this case and seldom is in any case.
• Only one man had the right answer to Jesus question.

Matthew 16:15-20 (NLT) 15 Then he asked them, “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you lock on earth will be locked in heaven, and whatever you open on earth will be opened in heaven.” 20 Then he sternly warned them not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

• Peter’s answer was a good middle of the road response.
• Jesus reply leads to the second piece of New Testament revelation for Peter.
• He said, ‘And I say also unto you…’ (verse 18).
  • In other words, Jesus is saying, ‘Look, Peter, God the Father has revealed to you my true identity, that I am the Christ. Now, here’s something else that you didn’t know.’
• ‘You are Peter’.
• That’s not the new part, obviously, he knew his name for in John 1:42 Jesus called Peter Cephas.

John 1:42 (NKJV) — 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).

• Cephas is Aramaic.
• The name means a stone.
• Jesus continued ‘You are a stone and upon this rock, I will build my church.’
• The rock Jesus was referring to was the physical land they were standing on.
• This land was known in the ancient world as the gateway to hell.
• See this podcast for more information on this subject.
• Peter didn’t know this.
• This was a revelation for him.
• He knew his name but did not know about the very place he stood.
• Peter is doing rather well this particular day.
• He has received two revelations.
• One concerning Jesus identity and one concerning the overcoming power of the kingdom of God.
• Now, Jesus tries to share with Peter the third revelation concerning His imminent death.

Matthew 16:21-23 (NLT) 21 From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that he had to go to Jerusalem, and he told them what would happen to him there. He would suffer at the hands of the leaders and the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, and he would be raised on the third day. 22 But Peter took him aside and corrected him. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, and not from God’s.”

• After Peter stays in the middle of the road on the first two revelations he receives, he goes into the ditch on the third.
• ‘Be it far from you…’ is Peters reaction to this word from God.
• The phrase can also be translated as ‘God have mercy on you. This shall never be.’
• Peter doesn’t accept this word as THE WORD.
• If he had, he would have known that the Word of the Lord will always come to pass and that the best move is to agree with it.
• Jesus response to Peter in verse twenty-three is telling.’Get thee behind me, Satan…’
• Peter’s emotional reaction becomes a tool of the enemy.
• Peter is a stone but instead of a ‘Rock of Gilbrator’ that cannot be shaken, he instead becomes an in the ditch stumbling stone.

Call to Action:

The lesson here is that it’s always best to agree with God’s Word no matter how we may fell about what it’s saying. We may not always understand it but we can always agree.

Question: What would your counsel be for those who are experiencing a sidetracked moment in their everyday lives? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

__________
References: