Today, we had communion during our worship service and the message focused on Peter's story in Luke 22:54-62. When Jesus is arrested, just before being crucified, Peter, one of Jesus' disciples, is recognized by the crowd. Keep in mind that these people wanted to kill Jesus, so being identified as a follower of Jesus could cost you your life. The verses below in Luke 22 tell that story. What strikes me is how Peter responds after he sins and denies Christ:
54Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with him." 57But he denied it. Woman, I don't know him," he said. 58A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." "Man, I am not!" Peter replied. 59About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean." 60Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times." 62And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Peter went outside and "wept bitterly." Bitterly. Bitterly. Those words keep echoing in my mind and I think to myself, wow, I want to be so close to Jesus that my sin hits me that hard. I think sometimes I'm so desensitized to sin that I only see it as a "mistake," but not as a personal offense to the One who gave His life for me. When David committed adultery, he repents and says "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight." (Psalm 51:4a)
Sin is so personal. It's not just right and wrong. It's an offense to our Lord and Savior. I hope the Holy Spirit allows me to feel that sorrow in a way that, like Peter (see the rest of Luke and Acts), leads me back to Him.
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hmmmm....
ReplyDeleteoh, god!!! if only our small "slip ups" could rock us like that!!! where we're so sensitive to god that we would sooner croak than hurt him!!
wowies...
One would imagine that we would set out each day to make sure that we did not sin if we were hit so hard by the sins we committed. We also would not have it within ourselves to categorize the "little" sins that we find so acceptable now. I know I am GUILTY of being dissensitized to sin and have sadly created areas in my life where certain thoughts and actions are acceptable in order to get away from the realization of bad they are. I imagine that Peter did not realize that his "Rahab" lie: denying that he knew Christ, so he could be there as an eyewitness to what was going on, would wreck him so badly. If he had not been reminded of the fact that Jesus had forewarned him of this sin he could have brushed off his denials of Christ as "okay."
ReplyDeleteI thought all day how much of a wreck I would be if I was this sensitive... so much a wreck that I would do EVERYTHING in Christ's power to rid sin from life... I NEED a LOT more days to not only think on this, but transform on this!
I am getting cut up a LOT during this fast... only day 5!