JUNE 18, 2015
Failure Is Not
Fatal
You
are the Christ, the Son of the living God. —John 6:69
Read:
John 18:15-27
Prime Minister Winston
Churchill knew how to bolster the spirits of the British people during World
War II. On June 18, 1940, he told a frightened populace, “Hitler knows that he
will have to break us . . . or lose the war. . . . Let us therefore brace . . .
and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire [lasts] for a thousand years,
men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour!’ ”
We would all like to be
remembered for our “finest hour.” Perhaps the apostle Peter’s finest hour was
when he proclaimed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John
6:69). Sometimes, however, we let our failures define us. After Peter
repeatedly denied that he knew Jesus, he went out and wept bitterly (Matt.
26:75; John 18).
Like Peter, we all fall short—in
our relationships, in our struggle with sin, in our faithfulness to God. But
“failure is not fatal,” as Churchill also said. Thankfully, this is true in our
spiritual life. Jesus forgave the repentant Peter for his failure (John 21) and
used him to preach and lead many to the Savior.
Failure is not fatal. God
lovingly restores those who turn back to Him.
Dear Father, thank You for
Your forgiveness. Thank You that Your mercy and grace are given freely through
the shed blood of Your Son, Jesus.
When God
forgives, He removes the sin and restores the soul.
INSIGHT:
The story of Peter’s denial of Christ is
found in each of the four gospel records (Matt. 26; Mark 14; Luke 22; John 18).
Of these records, Mark’s account bears particular interest since scholars
believe it is the record of Peter’s memories of his time with Jesus. If so,
then in Mark’s gospel Peter recounts the story of his denials as a personal
testimony of his failure.
Source: Our Daily Bread 2015
