3 - the trap of boasting
Mark 14:
27 Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will abandon me.
Scripture says, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'
28 "But after I am brought back to life, I will go to Galilee ahead of you."
29 Peter said to him, "Even if everyone else abandons you, I won't."
30 Jesus said to Peter, "I can guarantee this truth:
Tonight, before a rooster crows twice, you will say three times that you don't know me."
31 But Peter said very strongly,
"Even if I have to die with you, I will never say that I don't know you."
All the other disciples said the same thing.
(God's Word)
Because Peter and the other followers of the Lord Jesus, didn't take seriously the warning that they would all give into the temptation to abandon Him, Peter fell into the second degree of the process of backsliding: Peter began to boast of his steadfast faithfulness.
You remember the first thing he did was to state in his misplaced self-confidence, "Even if everyone else abandons you, I won't."
Misplaced self-confidence is the first step to backsliding. Our faith fight here is to put our trust in the Lord, and understand that we cannot be sure of our own selves.
This second step in the process of backsliding is to boast like Peter, "Even if everyone else abandons you, I won't."
Because, as usual, Peter sounded so confident, this gave the other disciples the mistaken idea that they too could never fall into the trap of abandoning the Lord Jesus.
Jesus further warned that before the rooster crows twice, Peter would deny three times that Peter knew Jesus. But Peter was more sure of himself than ever.
Today we know what happened and how the story ended, and sometimes we say, Why was Peter so foolish? Why didn't he listen to the warnings Jesus gave them?
Peter is no different from any of us. We all are too confident in our own abilities. We all boast of things we have no idea about.
If there is one thing is incident teaches us, it is that we should learn from the misconceptions of the original followers of the Lord Jesus, that it is wisest to lean on the Lord fully and not put our trust in ourselves.
Prayer:
Father in heaven, today we come to You, thanking You for the warnings You have given us concerning misplaced self confidence.
Today I rest my full trust in You. I ask that I will seek You diligently for how I should view my present circumstances, so that I will have Your perspective and not my own.
Thanks for placing Your wisdom at my disposal, so that I can have Your good success in my living,
in Jesus' name,
Amen. |
