I hope you’re well! Today’s devotional comes to us from Warren Ethridge. Warren serves as the Director of TCU Baptist Student Ministry. Warren is passionate, good-humored, and enjoys sharing the story of what God is doing in the hearts and lives of college students. I hope you enjoy today’s devotional, and many blessings to you and yours.
Mark 14:66-72 (see also Acts 2:14-16, 36-41, 4:1-21)
66 While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him.
“You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said.
68 But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway.
69 When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, “This fellow is one of them.” 70 Again he denied it.
After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”
71 He began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.”
72 Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
Reflection
When I think through some of the major figures of the Bible, very few resonate with me as much as Peter does. Peter grows an incredible amount as he walks alongside Jesus, from being one of the disciples that would earn my vote as “most likely to insert foot in mouth” (Mark 8:31-33) to being one of the disciples Jesus most trusts to “Shepherd my sheep.” (John 21:16, CSB)
And yet, even with all of his growth, Peter still made mistakes. During Jesus’s greatest time of need, Peter’s courage and resolve to stick by his dearest friend melted away, leading to lying about his affiliation with the Messiah. He swore, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about!” (Mark 14:76) Despite all the time that Peter had spent learning at the feet of the Teacher, he still ran from the persecution of others.
Like Peter, many of us have moments where we abandon Jesus and His teachings in an effort to save our own skin. Yet, just as Peter’s life went on to display, that does not have to be the end of the story.
Later, on the day of Pentecost, Peter began to preach, speaking boldly to large groups of people. His boldness would lead “about three thousand people” to join the believers. (Acts 2:41) Peter was no longer someone who feared what others could
do to him, but someone who was empowered by the Holy Spirit to be obedient to what God led him to do. So it should come as no surprise that when Peter faced threats by religious leaders (Acts 4), his response was not to deny involvement as he
had done previously, but to proclaim boldly, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide; for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20). As we draw closer to Easter, and the celebration of the King whom even death could not stop, let our prayers be of a life that is not in fear of people, but like Peter, is transformed to let us boldly proclaim the gospel in the face of opposition.
Let us pray.
God, help us to be a people who do not do things because we fear what others think of us, but because of your overwhelming love for us. Thank you for your compassion, grace, and faithful love with us as we grow in this and other areas.
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