When a servant saw him sitting in the firelight, and looked closely at him, she said,  “This man was with Him too.”                                                                                                                                    But he denied it:  “Woman, I don’t know Him!”                                                                                   After a little while, someone else saw him and said,  “You’re one of them too!”                               “Man, I am not!”  Peter said.                                                                                                             About an hour later, another kept insisting, this man was certainly with Him, since he’s also a Galilean.”                                                                                                                                            But Peter said,  “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”                                                          Immediately while he was still speaking a rooster crowed.  Then the Lord turned and looked at Peter.   So Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him,  “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.”                                                                                      And he went outside and wept bitterly.   Luke 22:56-62  NIV

What is your relationship like with Jesus?  Do you believe in Him?  Do you know Him?  Would he be considered just an acquaintance or a close friend?

Peter was one of Jesus’ disciples.  Jesus had told Peter that he would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed.  Peter adamantly denies this and tells Jesus that he will never deny him even if it means dying with him (Matthew 26:35).  Jesus brings Peter into the garden to wait for Him while he prays.  When they come to arrest Jesus, Peter cuts the ear off of one of the soldiers. Peter loves Jesus, there is no doubt about that.  However, Peter denied Him three times, just as Jesus had predicted.  Now fortunately, for Peter, this is not the end of the story.  Peter came back from this and boldly proclaimed the gospel. He gave a sermon at the Pentecost in Acts chapter 2.  In Acts chapter 3, he and John healed a lame man.  In Acts chapter 4, they were arrested.

The moral of the story is that Peter made a mistake just like we all do, but he didn’t let that stop him.  He bounced back.  Our scripture passage tells us that Peter went out and wept bitterly.  It shows us that Peter had great sorrow over what he had done.  He was in close relationship with Jesus and it pained him to realize that he had denied Jesus.  Why did he deny Jesus?  Well, I’m sure it was out of fear.  Jesus had been arrested for no reason and was being tried in a kangaroo court and was about to be crucified.  The mob was shouting for Jesus to be crucified and for them to let the criminal go.  The situation was bad, no doubt about that.  I am sure that in Peter’s mind, he’s thinking that if they connect him with Jesus, that he could face charges as well.  So, he denied knowing Him, not once but three times.  In this situation, Peter put himself first.  He didn’t trust Jesus to be able to take care of Him.  He had no doubt seen Jesus perform many miracles, but now he was seeing Jesus captured and about to die a horrific death.

So today my friend, I have a question for you?  How many times in any given day do you deny Jesus?  Is it 0-3, 3-6?  Now some of you are reading this and thinking, “hey if anyone asked me if I know Jesus, I would say yes.”  Well, good for you, but that’s not what I’m talking about.  I’m talking about denying Jesus by the way we treat others, the way we talk, and the way we act.  So with that in mind think again about how many times a day we deny Jesus.  Do you deny him when you burst into a fit of road rage?  Do you deny him by the way you treat the clerk at the store when you become impatient after waiting in line?  Do you deny him by the way you talk with a limited vocabulary of four letter words?

Now as you are reading this today, I don’t know what your situation is.  Perhaps you have no relationship with Jesus.  Perhaps you once were close but have drifted away from Him.  Perhaps you have a good close relationship with Him.  Whatever the case may be, take time to consider whether you are denying Jesus in any area of your life.  If so, do what Peter did.  Repent and boldly proclaim the gospel.  It’s not too late.

In Matthew 16:24, Jesus said to His disciples,  “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.”  So the question here today is who will you deny?  Will you deny yourself and put Jesus first or will you deny Jesus and put yourself first?  The choice is yours my friend.

I have learned, albeit the hard way, that when I deny myself and put Jesus first that he takes care of everything else.  When I give him the first tenth of my income before I pay my bills, he takes care of me financially.  When I give him the first few minutes of my day, he helps me get through the day.  So actually when I deny myself and put Jesus first, He handles everything else. When I boldly proclaim Him in the way I treat others, the way I talk and the way I act, He takes good care of me.  I pray daily for His help and His strength in doing this, I couldn’t do this on my own. Put him first and allow him to do the same for you.

Have a great day!