My thought for today is The Apostle Peter
A rough and rugged man.
Called by Christ from the shores of fishing to follow Him. He desired to make Peter a Fisher of men.
“As He was walking along the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen. ‘Follow Me,’ He told them, ‘and I will make you fish for people!’ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.”
Matthew 4:18-20 (HCSB)
Yet, Peter was flawed in many ways. Before we move further, you and I are flawed as well and must be reminded of such being our situation. We never need to get so “big” about our salvation and the blessings we have been afforded, that we forget how we are made. We are dust, with feet of clay and could at any moment be in the same fix Peter finds himself…except for the Grace of God!
We find him before the death of his Master demanding in no uncertain terms was he going to allow Him to die.
“From then on Jesus began to point out to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, ‘Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to You!’ But He turned and told Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns, but man’s.’”
Matthew 16:21-23 (HCSB)
We find him during the mock trials denying he ever knew Christ.
We find him at the road to the Cross weeping as he realized his weakness.
We find him at the death and burial of Christ hiding in the shadows.
But, after the Resurrection we find him redeemed and reinstated by Jesus. And on the day of Pentecost he is preaching grace and mercy…which he knew first hand.
“But Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them: ‘Men of Judah and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you and pay attention to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it’s only nine in the morning. On the contrary, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. I will even pour out My Spirit on My male and female slaves in those days, and they will prophesy. I will display wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and a cloud of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and remarkable Day of the Lord comes. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
Acts 2:14-21 (HCSB)
I am just like him.
“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him” (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).
Peter is Transformed to remind us that we too are transformed.
Romans 10:9-13 (HCSB)
“If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. Now the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on Him will not be put to shame, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”