Jesus answered, "Die for me? I tell you the truth, Peter--before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.—John 13:38 NLT
by Robert (Bob) Heath
As of late I have been listening to the New Testament while I work. Listening while working isn’t really like reading. If I was reading the word and something caught my attention I could pause and dig in easily, but listing while working is different. I listen to massive quantities of scripture and absorb contextually, but not usually deductively.
So when I noticed that the story of Peter’s denial was in all four gospels, I had to ask, “God is there something you are trying to show me/us?” Several days after I asked that question I was preparing to minister to a group of elementary age children and God gave me a “download” so to speak.
I feel like God was showing me/us that Peter’s denial is a picture of our’s. Not a direct denial of Christ, but a spiritual one. It seems that sin is denying Christ. When we willfully choose to deny him by doing whatever we wish. We say I would never deny Christ, even if it means dying for Him. When we deny the truth and power of His word in our lives is it possible that when we allow ourselves to get bowled over by this situation or that, which goes against the victory we know we have in Christ we are denying Christ?
It’s time to embrace the fact that “His grace is sufficient” to overcome any situation. Time to deny the denial. --Bob Heath