Tuesday the 30th

John 13: ³⁷Peter asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you."

 ³⁸Then Jesus answered, "Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

 

Will you really lay your life down for me? What a question. For as we know, there is no greater love than for one to lay his life down for his brother. Yet here we find Jesus telling Peter that not only will he not lay his life down, he will actually deny Christ 3 times. This event does come to pass, and Peter does deny the Christ. Out of fear for his life Peter acts like he does not know Christ at all!  Now we know that in the end Peter does give His life for Christ, hanging upside down on a cross until dead; but this does give us a chance to see Peter as ourselves. Don’t we have a good relationship with Christ? Don’t we follow him, and try and model our lives after him?? But do we deny Him? Are there times in our life when it is easier to act like we just do not know Him? Sadly that answer is yes. Take heart though! God’s plan will be fulfilled! It is what we do once we realize the denial that counts. Do we correct it? Do we let that become our first step off the path? What happened in Peter’s life that made him go from denying Christ to an unabashed, unashamed, boldly speaking disciple once again? Christ came to him, and gave him the Holy Spirit…... That same Spirit that lives inside of you! Peter’s denial was a low point in his spiritual life, and we all have those moments. The question is do we define the moment, or does the moment define us? Do we shrink form the challenge, or do we allow the Holy Spirit to give us the words to speak? Do we trust our worldly instinct to cower and hide when we find ourselves in a low spot, or do we turn that weakness over to God and allow Him to be at His strongest?  If Christ can take His cross and march it to His human death for each one of us, I believe we each can take our smaller and lighter cross and carry it proudly through our lives. Will we drop it? Occasionally yes, I am sure we will, Jesus himself fell under the weight of His cross. Yet we cannot allow that low spot to become our resting point. No, we will have an eternity of rest with the Lord, until that time, may we each recognize our low spots, our denials, and our transgressions for what they are,….they are not our end, but a new opportunity…. a chance for the Holy Spirit to direct us, Christ to protect us, and the Almighty God to give us the strength that we will need for our journey. 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

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