Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. Luke 22:60-62

Jesus had warned Peter hours earlier that Peter would deny Jesus, not once, but three times. Peter’s response? “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” We smile at this because we know the ending. You just know that what Jesus had told him had to be weighing on his mind. He was confused. Guards had taken away the Messiah and his friend. Peter’s life was turning upside down even though it was exactly how Jesus predicted it.

We’re not always sympathetic to Peter’s plight. I think we wrongly judge him for what he did. Jesus had telegraphed to Peter how the night would go down and Peter still got it wrong. But if we’re honest, we have to all admit the Peter in each of us. I’m not saying we’d deny Christ if we were given the same opportunities. Scripture clearly lays out certain principles that we – even as Believers – violate time and time again.

Proverbs tells us to seek wisdom over gold or riches. If we do, we’ll prosper. If we seek gold instead, we’ll have hardships. Which do we seek more?

James tells us to guard our tongue because we tend to flap it more freely than we should. We end up apologizing for things we’ve harshly said.

Numerous passages of Scripture scream to us to flee from sin when “it’s crouching at our door.” We ignore it at our own peril.

The number of examples of God telling us NOT to do something or to DO something else because it would benefit us would fill several books. And yet, we, like Peter say, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”

Dying for Jesus is easy; living for Him day by day, however, is a whole different ball of wax