Today’s Reading, Matthew 26
Focal Scripture: Matthew 26:34 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to him, “tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”
Failure is a part of life. Sometimes we fail in small things and other times we fail in big areas. What makes failure important are the lessons we learn from these situations. For instance, I have learned more from my personal and professional failures than I ever could learn from my successes. Why? Because failure requires you to examine yourself and the situation. This examination exposes weaknesses and even major flaws.
In today’s reading Jesus tells the disciples that they would be scattered. They would leave Jesus and be separated from him and even from what they believe. Doubt will creep in and win for a season. Peter, boldly stated he would never leave. Then Jesus tells him that he would deny him three times before the rooster crowed. I imagine he was in shock and had a belief in himself that would never allow that to happen.
As we know from the scriptures he did deny Jesus three times. What we need to learn from this is that we will all fail in our walk. If you believe that you will never mess up or have doubts you are mistaken. If you believe you won’t have moments where you should speak up but you stay silent you are mistaken. As humans who are trying to become more Christlike we will suffer many defeats that will expose the areas of our heart and life that must be submitted to the Lord.
The question I have for you is the following: Are you willing to admit you need help? Peter was so sure he was right, he argued with the one who was never wrong. His arrogance in his own ability was misplaced. This is what was exposed in his life. But before you say you would never deny Jesus, stop and ask yourself if your pride is getting in the way.
We are all one decision away from a major catastrophic failure. It can be financial, spiritual or even moral. People who are not in a constant state of dependence on the Lord are on the door of making a major mistake. Peter should teach us much on how easy it is to be zealous and fail at the same time.
Tomorrow, I plan on reading Matthew 27-28
