“God never leaves the job undone.”
Some time ago God awoke me from sleep with the apostle Peter on my mind. Why I asked and for what reason? What about Peter was I to see and understand? Well let me say that first of all, I am not always awakened out of good sleep to pray or read my Bible. And when I am, I struggle to obey those unctions. (I’m human just like you!) But that particular time, let me tell you what came to mind. At the Last Supper and right after the feet washing episode, recall Peter's attitude. Emotions were high; imagine how intimate the scene was and how close he must have felt to Jesus. He felt as if he could set the world on fire with the zeal he felt for the Savior. Peter says in John 13:37, “But why can’t I come now, Lord? he asked. I am ready to die for you” (NLT). Peter is ready to sacrifice all for the Lord. Or is he? Jesus predicts in the very next verse what Peter is most notorious for--denying Christ. Man, how many times have you and I been there? Telling the Lord we would do something for him based on a good feeling, only to later disappoint ourselves by not living up to our end of the bargain. Well I’ve been there and there is good news for us “would-be” failures. Later in the same book (John 21) Peter is with the resurrected Jesus and is asked if he loved Jesus. Amazingly enough this is the only gospel that records this conversation between the grief-stricken, Christ-denying, failure of a man Peter and the comforting, forgiving, reassuring Savior. Why did Jesus question Peter three times? It would seem that Peter's self-esteem and self-confidence were at all time lows. Now he was being made to answer a question he thought Jesus already knew the answer to. My humble opinion is that for each instance of denial that Peter committed against Christ, Jesus returned it with three separate instances that gave Peter a chance to confirm his love for Christ by accepting to “feed the sheep”. This is important because each believer has been given a purpose by God and although we may lose our way because we get caught up in our circumstances and “deny” Christ. He is the only one that can reassure us of that purpose and thus give us the power to complete the work and purpose he has for our lives. Without this reassurance can we be sure that Peter would have preached the house down in Acts 2 and so many would be saved? I’m of the opinion that the answer is no.
Lord, I know that I’m an unfinished work. My prayer is that you show me every area in my life in which I can improve and bring you glory. Amen.
Suggested readings: Philippians 1:6; John 13:36-38; 21:15-17; Acts 2:14-41