Daily Blast - Easter: Day 1
Scripture
“54 So they arrested him and led him to the high priest’s home. And Peter followed at a distance. 55 The guards lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter joined them there. 56 A servant girl noticed him in the firelight and began staring at him. Finally she said, “This man was one of Jesus’ followers!”
57 But Peter denied it. “Woman,” he said, “I don’t even know him!”
58 After a while someone else looked at him and said, “You must be one of them!”
“No, man, I’m not!” Peter retorted.
59 About an hour later someone else insisted, “This must be one of them, because he is a Galilean, too.”
60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
61 At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” 62 And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.”
Reflection
As we’re all on lockdown it gives us the opportunity to continue to grow closer to God and gain a greater understanding of His word. During this time we have put together a series of short daily devotionals which will encourage us to continue moving upwards in our relationship with Him. The first theme we will be exploring is Easter. It’s crazy to think we are so close to Easter, it felt like only a couple weeks ago we started 2020! But here we are already in April!
The first area we are going to look at today is the character of Peter. Peter, as we know, was one of Jesus disciples’, who went on to be one of the founders of the early church. But for today we are going to be looking at what happened to Peter during the Easter story. It is well known that Peter said that he was willing to die for Jesus and would follow him to the grave (Matthew 26:35). However, during the Easter story, when Peter is put under pressure by others who were challenging him about his relation to Jesus, he buckles and denies Jesus three times.
Denying Jesus doesn’t just come in the form of when we’re asked about Jesus we say “no I don’t know Jesus” it can also come in the way we live our lives. Does the way we spend time with Jesus reflect on our external look? When we go to school or are with our friends and family, are we living our lives as though we are being examples of Jesus?
Fortunately, Jesus loved Peter as He loves everyone and forgave Peter for denying Him. Jesus is so great that He can do the same for us because He also loves us. You’re not excluded when God says that He loves you. You’re included in the greatest love there is!
Challenge
To finish here is a challenge for you… are there areas in your life which you feel do not truly reflect Jesus? If so, I want to challenge you to write that area down and pray that God will help you in it.