Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, ‘Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.’ Likewise also said all the disciples…Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, “Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.” And he went out, and wept bitterly.”
Matthew 26:34-35,74-75
Often times, we are too sure of ourselves; and why shouldn’t we, by the mercies of God, be sure of ourselves. We face exams because we are sure we will scale through them successfully. We drive cars, because we are sure we will
and we can successfully maneuver them. We invest in businesses because we’re sure we will succeed. We start having children because we are sure we can parent successfully… and the list continues.
We do a lot of things because we think we know ourselves well enough to do them well and succeed in them. Many times, we are so sure of ourselves that we believe we can’t say or forget certain things, and we refuse to take steps to keep us from saying or forgetting, because we are sure we cannot.
We are so sure of ourselves that we think we can’t do certain things- we can’t embezzle, we can’t steal; we can’t fight; we can’t commit fornication and adultery; we can’t tell lies; we can’t…
Likewise, Peter was so sure of himself like any normal human being is. But he forgot that his knowledge of himself was limited, just like yours and mine.
Our knowledge is limited; however, by the Spirit of God, we know all things.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10 KJV
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
By the Spirit of God, we know we will succeed in every area of life: personal affairs, family, ministry, business, academics, financial, vocation etc. The promises of God are there; the help of God is available and with diligence on our part. We are sure to come out successful in all of life’s endeavours.
However, we must always learn to lean on God and rest on His Helping Hands because to finish strong and successful, we need Him.
We must not grow to the points in life, where, as believers, our confidence is in the flesh. NO! We must not.
We must not become too sure of ourselves as to shift focus from the Lord.
We must continually, remember that without Him, we can do nothing (not even follow Him through, regardless of how zealous). Remember, even Peter denied Him (together with all other disciples, who forsook Christ)
Our confidence and sufficiency must be in Christ alone.
2 Corinthians 3:5-6
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able…”
Our confidence is in Christ who makes us able…
He alone, is able to accomplish all that concerns us, and we must always look to him for help.
Peter was so sure of himself. He even swore about this. It probably didn’t dawn on him, that Jesus who was telling him this, knows the end from the beginning. He could have just asked for grace to not deny Jesus, but he rather bragged in the little understanding and knowledge he had.
Jesus knows the future and He is able to keep and preserve our future, when we entrust it to Him and ask for His help. He is committed to our success in the journey of life and of the Kingdom but we, as believers, must not fall into the error of thinking we can do anything successfully, without Him. Jesus knows us more than we know ourselves, and we must continue to draw from His grace as we journey through life.
May we continue to receive help from “…Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,” Jude vs 24
Amen & Amen!
©Funmi Adebayo