Peter was chosen by Jesus to be a ‘disciple’, which means ‘learner;’ and 'apostle', which means a ‘commissioned representative who is sent out’ (Luke 6:13-16).  He knew the Jewish law of the Old Covenant; he was devout and strictly religious.  But he did not know that Jesus was preparing him to invite Gentiles into God's presence.  Neither did he know that the Lord had already told a Gentile Roman Centurion, Cornelius, to invite Peter to explain the gospel to him and his household (Acts 10:1-6).

Men were already on their way to tell Peter to go to Cornelius' house in Caesarea.  But before they arrived, God had to help Peter understand that it was right to go to a Gentile's house; because it was something that Jews did not do as they considered Gentiles to be religiously unclean (Acts 10:28).  As the men were coming, Peter was on the roof of Simon's house in Joppa, starting his midday prayers, with the smell of cooking coming from the house below.  Then, Peter had a vision.

Peter saw a variety of animals, reptiles and birds on a sheet.  As he watched them, he heard the Lord's voice instructing him to kill the creatures and eat them.  Now, the Jewish laws about what animals could be eaten were very strict.  Peter identified the creatures on the sheet as being 'unclean' – not to be eaten, according to the law (Leviticus 11:1-9).  But the Lord commanded him to kill them, cook and eat them.  Peter's reaction was immediate: 'No Lord'.  It was not right by the law or his lifetime of religious observance.  God had got it wrong, or so Peter thought.

Our religious tradition may be useful in helping us to maintain spiritual disciplines; but our tradition must never be allowed to be more important than God’s Word calling us to obey Him.  But when our religious habits become our controlling influence, the Lord cannot redirect us, train us, send us or use us in new ways.  If the Lord is calling you to serve Him but some religious tradition prevents you, think again.  Neither ignore the clarity of God's Word nor construct a set of rules out of what you think He has said.  The Lord wants us to be in a dynamic relationship with Him.  Sometimes our favourite prejudices must be abandoned before we can fulfil Christ's great commission.  That is why we have the Apostles' doctrine to guide us: they learnt the hard way what was right and then wrote it down for us.  Ask the Lord to guide you through the teaching of the Apostles and the Holy Spirit.