Monday, August 28
Our failures aren’t final
Scripture: Mark 14
Mark 14:29–31 Peter said to him, “Even if they all fall away, I will not!” 30 Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, today—this very night—before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31 But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I must die with you, I will never deny you.” And all of them said the same thing.
Mark 14:72 Immediately a rooster crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said to him: “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
Observation
And you think you had a bad day! Peter’s demise started with his insistence that he was more devoted to Jesus than all the others: “Even if they all fall away, I will not!” It was all downhill from there.
When Jesus took Peter to pray, Peter fell asleep—three times.
When they came to arrest Jesus (and probably all the disciples as well), Peter fled.
When asked if he was one of Jesus’ disciples, Peter denied even knowing Jesus—three times.
And after all the failures? Peter broke down and wept. He was a defeated and broken man.
And yet…after the resurrection, Jesus sought him out and restored him (see John 21). Our failures aren’t final!
Application
First, don’t think too highly of yourself. Peter made the mistake of thinking he could never fall, but he did; thinking he was better than others, but he wasn’t.
1 Corinthians 10:12 So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall.
Second, I’m so grateful for the grace of God that redeems and restores failures like Peter. And me. And everyone else I know. God’s grace is bigger than our sin…always.
Romans 5:20 But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.
Our failures aren’t final.
Here’s the final verse of the hymn, The Love of God.
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky.
Prayer: Lord, I love You. I’m so grateful for Your love and grace that takes failures like me and makes something of us.
More: Lamentations 3-4, 2 Peter 1