Daily Devotional for Wednesday 17th July
Peter’s denial
Reading through these verses we read how the prediction from Jesus became a reality and how Peter did in fact deny knowing Jesus 3 times.
It can be a common reaction when faced with difficulty to deny things in order to avoid trouble or confrontation, in this instance in order to save himself being arrested, Peter strongly denies his affiliation to Jesus to the point where he gets angry and starts calling down curses on the accusers.
We may be faced in life with situations that can be uncomfortable, but staying true to your faith and to God will always be the best solution, even if it causes uncomfortableness for a short time.
When Peter hears the cock crow for a second time, he immediately knows what he has done and it says he “broke down and wept”. This would be true of any of us that realise what we have been doing or saying has wronged someone. This weeping from Peter shows us his immediate remorse for his actions towards Jesus.
Even throughout this, we learn of God’s unfailing love for us, because Peter may have denied Jesus as predicted, but we see in Matthew 16:13-19 when Jesus asked His disciples “who do you say I am?” Peter answers “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”. Peter was rewarded by Jesus because of his faithfulness and is the one who holds the keys to Heaven. He vowed to always support and follow Jesus, but denied knowing the Messiah to save himself. We may have all been in situations where we have denied God to avoid being uncomfortable, we are lucky that God is so forgiving and knows we are humans, but it is our actions after being forgiven and learning from it that will help us move forwards in our faith.
Time to reflect…
1. Confrontation or awkward questions can be uncomfortable in that moment, but is denying God and His way of teaching us something we could sit with comfortably?
2. If you have time, read Matthew 16:13-20 – Look at how great the rewards were for Peter for knowing who Jesus really is. As Christians and knowing Jesus, we also receive rewards in abundance.
Pause to pray…
Heavenly Father,
We come to you and ask for forgiveness for times where to avoid being made uncomfortable we have denied You. We thank You for Your unfailing love for us, and we pray that with each decision we make, You are at the forefront of our minds and guided by your Holy Spirit.
In Jesus’ name we pray
Amen.
