Mark 14:66-72

There's something to be said for Peter, even in the midst of this terrible account of his denial: Peter immediately recognized his sin. He was convicted of his sin as soon as the cock crowed the second time, because he remembered that Jesus had predicted these denials. He wept.

 

In contrast, too often we take our sins lightly. Jesus died for us, we reason, and yes, it's terrible that we've sinned. But ultimately, we're ok. We're already saved, and we know He's paid for our most recent sins, too. We begin to take God's forgiveness for granted. We don't weep over the seriousness of our sins.

 

Our salvation was not intended to make our sins look any less despicable to us. Sins are still sins. We should be more horrified at our sins after our salvation, not less! No longer are we horrified because we believe that we will be sentenced to hell. Now we are horrified because we understand more fully the foolishness of sin, the results of sin, the offense of sin before our wonderful, holy Father and Lord. We wonder how we can continue to sin, now that we are saved, now that we have been given the Holy Spirit to empower us against sin, now that we understand the evil-ness of sin. We see how powerful sin is in our lives, even now, and we are driven to realize more fully how powerful God must be to have saved us and be saving us from our sinful ways.

 

Sin is never a light matter. Father, forgive me for my offenses! And forgive me for not dealing with them as I ought to! Deliver us all, and make Your name great in our eyes every time we see the operations of sin in us and around us! May we know that You alone are upright and good, and may we fall down before You to seek Your mercy! May we weep over our sins!