Devotional - April 25, 2004

After hearing he would deny the Lord three times, Peter was still in shell-shock. You can imagine that he would do whatever he had to do in order to prove the Lord wrong. He must have been thinking, "Could it be true?" (Lu 22:34)

Peter didn't realize it at first, but when the distance between him and Jesus increased, his faith decreased until he found himself without enough spine to admit he knew the Lord. And just as the Lord foretold, he denied the Master three times. 1,2,3 strikes you're out! Or was he?

Of course not! Because Jesus had not only predicted his failure but his conversion as well. "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back ("converted" in KJV), strengthen your brothers."

Jesus was not speaking of new birth conversion but instead conviction-style conversion. Peter was saved before he failed Jesus and failures or even lack of faith won't cause us to lose our salvation. But he would lose his faith and not get it back until he met the Master after the resurrection of the Lord.

Have you ever lost your determination to follow the Lord? Have you ever kept your lips sealed when people were mocking the Lord and you didn't have the courage to stand up and defend His Name? Have you lost your moral compass and found yourself standing by the fire of the enemy instead of by the Lord? If your honest, you'll admit you've done that more times than you care to admit.

There's good news: Jesus forgives uis when we fail and He won't turn His back on us even when we turn our back on Him. Scripture tells us He'll not allow Satan to tempt us so much we can't find our way back home. (1Co 10:13)

Are you following from afar? Are you keeping your distance because you're afraid of being recognized as a Christian? Have you failed so many times, you are afraid to make another promise you can't keep? Don't be discouraged, but do what Peter did when he got his spiritual life straightened out. He helped someone else in trouble and he did, he found himself closer to the Lord than ever before.