In preparation for Easter, I have been reading the last few chapters of each four Gospels over and over during my quiet times. It has been really helpful to prepare my heart for remembering Christ's death on the cross as well as His resurrection. I feel like Easter always catches me by surprise and I wanted to be ready this year.
It's interesting what God shows you when you follow Him in faith. The first thing that I have been focused on is Peter. He is so eager to do the right thing. I get that. I'm a people-pleaser. A do-gooder. I'm all in. You say "Jump"...I say "How high". At one point, Jesus is telling them that He is going to be crucified and of course, Peter says "No way that's happening. If I have to die, I won't let that happen." (That's of course, my words, not his.) But, I understand his attitude...if I believe in something, I hang on for dear life. I think through "what-if" scenarios and I've decided what I will do. For example, if someone ever tried to harm one of my children, well, of course I'd fight them off. They would rue the day. :) I've got this.
But Jesus tells Peter "No, you're not going to do anything. In fact, before the rooster crows, you will have denied me three times." If Jesus had told me that, I would have been skeptical at best. "No way," I would have said. "Not a chance. I will never fail. I love you. I care too much. I'm all in." Well, we know that poor Peter...he did fail. When crunch time came, he didn't do what he said he would. He was a coward. He didn't stand for what he believed in. We know he wept when the rooster crowed and he remember what Jesus had said. I get that, too.
We all do this. We all fail. We wake up in the morning and say "That thing I'm struggling with. I can beat that. I'm not failing again. I'm strong. I can do it." We read Scripture and think, "OK, box checked. Thanks God. I've got this now." And then what do we do?...we fail. Again and again and again. We're not strong. We're not brave. We get distracted. We choose to do things that we know are wrong even though we said we wouldn't.
It's the power of sin over us. Peter needed Christ to go to the cross, conquer sin and death, and be raised again. He needed to be made new. He needed the Holy Spirit. So do we.
We know what the right thing is, but we choose wrong. We know something is bad for us, but we do it anyways. We want what we can't have. We grumble and complain. And we can't stop. Not without Christ.
Romans 13:14 "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify it's desires."
It's interesting what God shows you when you follow Him in faith. The first thing that I have been focused on is Peter. He is so eager to do the right thing. I get that. I'm a people-pleaser. A do-gooder. I'm all in. You say "Jump"...I say "How high". At one point, Jesus is telling them that He is going to be crucified and of course, Peter says "No way that's happening. If I have to die, I won't let that happen." (That's of course, my words, not his.) But, I understand his attitude...if I believe in something, I hang on for dear life. I think through "what-if" scenarios and I've decided what I will do. For example, if someone ever tried to harm one of my children, well, of course I'd fight them off. They would rue the day. :) I've got this.
But Jesus tells Peter "No, you're not going to do anything. In fact, before the rooster crows, you will have denied me three times." If Jesus had told me that, I would have been skeptical at best. "No way," I would have said. "Not a chance. I will never fail. I love you. I care too much. I'm all in." Well, we know that poor Peter...he did fail. When crunch time came, he didn't do what he said he would. He was a coward. He didn't stand for what he believed in. We know he wept when the rooster crowed and he remember what Jesus had said. I get that, too.
We all do this. We all fail. We wake up in the morning and say "That thing I'm struggling with. I can beat that. I'm not failing again. I'm strong. I can do it." We read Scripture and think, "OK, box checked. Thanks God. I've got this now." And then what do we do?...we fail. Again and again and again. We're not strong. We're not brave. We get distracted. We choose to do things that we know are wrong even though we said we wouldn't.
It's the power of sin over us. Peter needed Christ to go to the cross, conquer sin and death, and be raised again. He needed to be made new. He needed the Holy Spirit. So do we.
We know what the right thing is, but we choose wrong. We know something is bad for us, but we do it anyways. We want what we can't have. We grumble and complain. And we can't stop. Not without Christ.
Romans 13:14 "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify it's desires."
