54 Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55 And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”
57But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.
58A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
59About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
60 Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 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.” 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.
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There was a time as a young Christian with the question, “Would you die for Christ?” I knew what the answer should be. We all did. And despite that, deep inside I wonder if I had the courage to die for Him. But before I say that I am ready to die for Him now as an older, more mature follower, well, that might be as foolish as Peter. There’s nothing like being placed into a situation where that decision must be made, and until that day arrives, I won’t be so prideful to think that I would. I certainly hope I would. And I certainly would need all the strength of the Holy Spirit to carry out a marty’s death.
But denial of Christ isn’t limited to death. Every day presents opportunities to stand by Him or stand away from a distance. That gets harder as our culture drifts further and further from God’s values. Making a stand for Christ is shown in how I react to things like gay marriage, even Obamacare on some level. It happens in encounters with others – talking about my faith (or not). How others see Christ in me (or not). But perhaps the greatest denial of Christ in my life would be when I think I can do it on my own without Him. I deny my need for Him. My quiet times or lack of them reflects a dependence or a denial of Him. And with that, I can certainly say I have denied Christ more than three times!
So my prayer today is that I might lean on Christ more. That I might make Him such a huge part of my life that talking about Him comes as naturally as talking about baseball. Help me, Lord, to lift you up.