Thursday; April 13

There may not be two more recognizable figures in the waning hours before Jesus’ death than Judas and Peter. Both of these men were members of Jesus’ closest band of disciples and both of them sold Him out in their darkest hours. Yet, this is where their stories come to a dramatic fork in the road. Judas would come to regret his actions and take his own life. Peter would regret his actions then stand up and proclaim Jesus as the Lord and Savior of the world. There has been a lot of speculation as to why each man chose his eventual fate, but in the end, the difference may have come down to their understanding of forgiveness. I don’t see much difference between Judas’ traitorous actions and Peter’s denial, but it is apparent that Peter had a deep belief in forgiveness.

The stories of Judas and Peter call upon us to evaluate our level of faith. Do we believe that Jesus is powerful enough to forgive us? Can we accept that, no matter what we do, Jesus is willing to forgive us? Are we confident that God loves us so much that He will overlook our darkest deeds? Basically, the bottom line is do we really believe that “… God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)?

When we come face-to-face with our failures, we can either give up on ourselves or look up to our Savior? Which will it be?

Think About It!

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