An Easter Week Devotion by Barbara Baker
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit…. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
Acts 2:38, 41
These verses are post resurrection, so a flip of a few pages to the left gives us a dramaticaly different Peter… “Then he began to curse and swear, ‘I do not know this Man of whom you speak!’” (Mark 14:71)
How did Peter get from his fireside denial of our Lord to preaching the gospel to thousands? The short version of the story: Peter received redemption and restoration. John 21:17 “He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’ Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed My sheep.’”
Without reservation, Jesus not only forgave Peter but caled him to a powerful ministry of spearheading the First Century church. Right then and there, Peter chose not to stay in his failure. He received the abundant mercy and grace offered to him by Jesus and let it propel him down the path God had set before him.
It would have been so easy to roll over, face the wall of self-pity, and stay in his shame, but Holy Spirit was alive in Peter, and he responded.
Where would we be without Peter accepting restoration and forgiveness? Oh, my goodness, I know how easy it is to alow the enemy to whisper in my ear about the shame of my past, even things I have done recently, but I can’t give Satan that toe hold. We just can’t allow ourselves to stay in that awful place of regret and darkness.
We must allow Holy God to lift us up, plant our feet firmly on the Rock, and walk forward holding His hand. We might not preach a sermon that leads three thousand to redemption, but we can be the voice that shares Jesus with a Sunday School class, witnesses to the homeless on the streets, or hugs a friend who is deep in grief. God has a plan, and it doesn’t involve looking back. Eyes forward on the Cross!
Jesus loves you! Me, too!