Day 81 - a Serious Case of Denial

As I read today's scripture, I felt so bad for Peter. Remember he was the one that told Jesus he would go with him "to prison and to death," (Luke 22:33). Now he has totally denied his Lord.

Haven't we all done that?

Of course we have denied knowing those crazy relatives of ours or old aquaintances. We jokingly talk about those instances.

But denying Christ....it is hard to admit that we've done that because it sounds so....so...brutal. My stomach turns just saying those two words: denying Christ.

Now, you may be thinking that you never told anyone that you weren't really a Christian or that he never really did anything for you or that you worshipped him on Sunday, but there are so many ways that we deny him in our plain old every day life.

Did you skip church Sunday to sleep in?

Did you stay home to watch Kentucky play instead of attend revival?

Did you engage in conversation that you know wasn't pleasing to him?

Did you listen as coworkers talked about someone, yet never spoke an encouraging word?

I think in all of these things we are denying Christ. We are denying him to be the center of our lives. We are putting other things first. We are acting in the flesh instead of being led by the Spirit. Maybe these things don't seem as bad as what Peter did, but if we continue to partake in things we see as petty, they soon consume us and lead us astray.

We realize(hopefully) what we've done and we weep.

The good news is that Jesus forgives us. He knows how wretched we are before we even realize what we've done. He loves us anyway. He can and will restore us if we ask him to.