Peter, don’t give up!

Luke 5,6-8 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

We want to take a look at what the Lord wants to teach us. In the Holy Scriptures we find many reports about men and women. Some were well known, and others, on the other hand, were not. We can look at their lives and see whether they were spiritually strong. There were some cases where even their weaknesses and strengths were described.

The amazing thing about it all is that God saw these people in their different situations; and He had it in His mind that we, who happen to be living in the end time, should receive that which we need for our spiritual life through this Word of God. Whether it happens to be admonishment, encouragement, correction, or something else, we all need the Word of God which the Holy Spirit gives to our souls.

We want to take a brief look at Peter. Peter comes from the Greek, which means “rock, stone “ (in Aramaic, Cephas) ; he is also called “Simon”, which means “hear”. Therefore, it does not only mean to hear, but also, a hearing “stone”. When the LORD had called him, Peter thought that Jesus had made a mistake. He thought that God did not know him very well. Some people who are reading this lines may also think that God does not know who they are.

Peter descibes his whole course of life with 5 words, “I am a sinful man”.
• Was he a sinful man? Yes!
• Did he have many problems? Yes!
• Did Jesus love him? Yes!

However, was Jesus finished with Peter? No! Nevertheless, Peter did not understand why Jesus, the WORD of God, had come into his life and called him to follow him. There may be some readers here who do not believe that they can follow Jesus. Never make the mistake of thinking that the LORD does not what HE is doing. Despite his first rejection, Jesus knew exactly that Peter had no idea about the plan which God had foreseen for his life. Jesus calls him again and says, “Don’t be afraid, Peter...” How often has God forgiven you and tried again to work in your life? Jesus knew that he could make something out of Peter, if he would remain faithful to him until the end. This call is the beginning for Peter, he left everything and followed Jesus.

In Hebrews, it states that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. Jesus came into his life with the purpose to save him. Jesus knew exactly that Peter could not be saved if he stayed in the way that he was. HE also knew that Peter was a person with many mistakes and weaknesses.

Jesus also knew that HE was able to form Peter, so that he would be exactly right for the kingdom of God. On the other hand, however, if He could not work on Peter, then he would never be saved but would be lost for all eternity. The ONLY chance for his and our salvation is His grace and patience and letting Jesus Christ work on us in our lives .Matt. 24:13 “Whoever endures until the end will be saved.” It is not an easy way, however, with God nothing is impossible.

Heb 12:1-2 “...and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” In other words, this means that we all need Jesus Christ from the beginning until the end!

We should allow Jesus to work in our lives everyday. This takes place through obedience to His Word. rw