We’ve been talking about how we can lose our blessings. We’ve looked at Samson and how he lost his power with God, and we’ve looked at David and how he lost the joy of his salvation. Today we look at Peter. Peter lost his boldness and testimony for the Lord. Peter was a lot like me. He was a “loud-mouthed lime” type. There was a commercial when I was a kid that was advertising flavors of their product (don’t remember what it was) and one of the flavors was “loud-mouthed lime.” That’s me…I identify with that! And like Peter, I’m a loud-mouthed lime…saying things before I think and getting myself into all kinds of trouble.
Our Scripture passage today is from Luke 22:54-62. Take the time to read it through and meditate on what is happening.
Peter was very bold in everything he did. When Jesus told Simon Peter that Satan wanted to destroy him, Peter boldly said, “Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison and to death.” Then Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed. (Luke 22:33-34 KJV)
Jesus was arrested and was brought before the high priest. Peter followed, but at a distance, that was his mistake. The bold Peter melted away and was replaced with a scared Peter, one who was almost afraid of his own shadow. When approached by a handmaiden, probably just a teenager, saying that he was one of the disciples, Peter denied it. When two others said that Peter knew Jesus, Peter vehemently denied that he was a follower of Jesus. Peter started with following at a distance and then was afraid of a little handmaiden. He couldn’t be that bold Peter everybody knew. His boldness faded when he followed “at a distance”. He wasn’t close to Jesus as he claimed he would be. Peter had gotten far away from the Lord.
We can lose our boldness also. When we follow “at a distance,” our relationship with Jesus is hindered. We don’t have a close relationship with Him and we can lose our footing, our boldness, and even our witness. We need to re-evaluate how far we are from Jesus. Do we continue in Bible study, prayer, church attendance, witnessing to the unsaved? Are we living in a manner that pleases Him? Is our attitude such that it shows Christ’s attributes?
I remember my Dad saying one time that he wasn’t all together convinced that we couldn’t lose our salvation, but he didn’t want to live in a manner where he would have to find out that he had. That’s the attitude we need to have. My Pastor has said, we can’t lose our salvation, but we can choose to walk away from it. There is a difference. Losing our salvation implies something to the effect of “I lost my keys…I put them somewhere and now I don’t remember where I left them.” We can’t just lose our salvation. We can, however; walk away from it. That suggests a choice! We can choose to follow Jesus or not.
Once we’ve headed down that pathway it becomes a slippery slope to broken fellowship with the Lord, and unless we repent, we are lumped in with unbelievers. Like my Dad, I don’t ever want to find myself in that camp. So today take account of your blessings. Have you lost the power of God in your life, have you lost the joy of your salvation, or have you lost your boldness and witness for the Lord? It only takes one prayer of repentance to find yourself back at the side of Jesus.
donnasmusings 