John 18:25-27 – “Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, ‘You also are not one of his disciples, are you?’ He denied it and said, ‘I am not.’ One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, ‘Did I not see you in the garden with him?’ Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.”
Every day you make decisions. Most of them are minor and don’t consume much time or energy. Once in a while, however, we are pressed to make a major decision. You know it’s a major decision when your anxiety level raises. Major decisions could cost us something we love (e.g. money, power, reputation, relationship). Major decisions can change the course of our entire life in an instant.
Earlier in John’s gospel, Jesus foretold that Peter would buckle under pressure and deny that he knew the Lord no less than three times before a rooster would crow (John 13:36-38). In that instance, Peter denied that he would ever do such a thing. But, seeing Jesus arrested and watching from a distance, Peter chose to deny rather than declare his relationship with Jesus. At this point, Peter still believed in Jesus but simply stopped obeying and following Him and denied Jesus for the third time that night.
If we are honest, every Christian is at some point a person like Peter. This brings up four important questions:
1) Is there any area of your life that you have stopped obeying Jesus?
2) Are you currently following or not following Jesus?
3) What price (e.g. money, time, reputation) are you unwilling to pay to be a disciple of Jesus?
4) What sin has gotten easier in your life the more you do it?