What a mess of Your intended perfection we have made of Your world Father. I am grateful to find solace in You, despite it all.
John 18:12-18 (<<click here to read the passage)
This past Sunday’s sermon dealt with struggling to follow Jesus even though His death and resurrection have given us the ability to be victorious in it all!
Most of the time, we don’t just jump headfirst into the deepest sin. Our problem lies in the fact that we have this very bad habit of giving way to something small on the outskirts of the main thing that we are really wanting to give way to. But we pass it off as a small and unimportant act that we commit. That then leads to something a little deeper and of course that leads to something deeper yet. Eventually, we are in over our head, and we are about as far as we can go in the deepest sin.
I for one enjoy watching video clips, i.e., parts of movies, compilations of accident-prone people, dashcam footage of highway accidents, animal antics, guys power washing filthy sidewalks, all kinds of things. Facebook has a video section you can click on with a wide variety of things, some of it very mind-numbingly entertaining. But there are also things on there that as a follower of Christ I avoid.
I have to be very careful. Amongst the mostly innocent videos lie serpents in waiting. Edgy videos that though not “technically” explicit push the envelope without a doubt. If I do go video surfing, I have to make sure that I am mentally and spiritually prepared to quickly bypass all the garbage that flashes on my screen. I dare not linger or I could be in trouble!
And that’s just one example. Maybe that’s not a weakness for you, but gossip, or “small” acts of thievery, or harboring bitterness against an “enemy”, or passing along little “white” lies, or readily speaking hurtful words to loved ones is.
None of us is anywhere close to perfect, no matter what others may think. We all have our Achilles heel…our weak spots.
The Apostle Peter talked big but when it came right down to it, he could not keep up that persona. And just as Jesus knows our weaknesses and loves us still, He knew Peter’s – He even told Peter beforehand how he would fall. And in spite of it all, Jesus loved Peter, as well.
Verse 17 of our passage says,
Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not one of this Man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” AMP
It was just a small avoidance of the truth…right? At least, I’m sure that’s what Peter told himself. But much to his later chagrin, that lie…that denial, led to another and before all was said and done, he had repeated the act three times! Mark’s Gospel in particular shows Peter’s reactions becoming more heated as they progressed.
Something small quickly turned into something overwhelmingly huge! And a wall was set between Peter and Jesus…and Peter knew it. But Jesus wouldn’t let it stand. A short time after His resurrection, Jesus purposely gave Peter the opportunity to reconcile himself with Him.
Jesus does the same for us. The walls we erect, He can readily raze…if we humbly and honestly come before Him seeking forgiveness. And I for one am grateful that He does…
Oct 25th, 2021, Mon, 5:46 pm
