Friday, May 3: Matthew 16– Life of a human…

Peter has a rough day. He may not be singled out personally, but when Jesus reprimands the disciples saying, “You of little faith…” (8), it must have stung a bit.
Then sometime later Peter hits a grand slam when he declares that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God (16). I can easily imagine that Peter was feeling good about himself; “Yeah, I understand what’s going on. I get it, I see what God is doing.”
But does he?
In the very next conversation Peter is rebuked harshly by the Lord. "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men" (23). King of the hill is now knocked to the dumps!
I thought about life. Many days are like Peter’s day. One moment faith fills me to overflowing and God moves through me to encourage a friend, help a stranger, give generously to support something that honors God. Then the next moment, sin slithers in and I get impatient and angry at something or I speak a caustic word against someone or I gossip…
Faith-filled then faithless and so on. Life of a human…
Lord, please forgive my all too human moments when sin rises up in me and gets the better of me. I confess that I am too often faithless. Cleanse my sin that I might be clean before You.
And bless You, Lord, for those moments when I faithfully catch what Your Holy Spirit is saying and act accordingly… to You, the Father and the Spirit, be all the honor and glory. Amen.

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