...time to repent once and for all...

“54 Then they seized Jesus and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. 55 When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. 56 Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, ‘This man also was with him.’ 57 But he denied it, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know him.’ 58 A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, ‘You also are one of them.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I am not!’ 59 Then about an hour later yet another kept insisting, ‘Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.’ 60 But Peter said, ‘Man, I do not know what you are talking about!’ At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.’ 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.

63 Now the men who were holding Jesus began to mock him and beat him; 64 they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, ‘Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?’ 65 They kept heaping many other insults on him” 

Luke 22: 54-65.

Don’t kid yourself! Peter is like all of us — condemned because of our sin. And like Peter, we deny our sin by repeating it time and time again. Is that not what repetitious sin is? Our denial that what we are doing is sinful! We tell ourselves that we can deny knowing God, at least for this moment. We tell ourselves, “I’ll come back to Jesus before it’s too late!”

Dear friends, this is the day in Lent when we must turn and weep bitterly, just as Peter did. Why? Because our sin makes a mockery of Jesus. It is the most insulting act we ever commit!

Today, join me in turning back to the Lord once and for all!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.