Acts 2:38-41
38 – Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
39 – For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.
40 – And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
41 – Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Most everyone is familiar with Peter’s denial of Christ, but that wasn’t the end of the story for this mighty man of God. Understanding that Peter was just a mortal man who was subject to the same failings as all the rest of us, Jesus forgave him and told him to go and spread His gospel throughout the world.
After the crucifixion and resurrection, Peter became one of Jesus’ most effective worker’s, standing strong against those who wished to squash the newly-formed Christian religion before it had a chance to blossom and flourish.
Peter’s powerful sermon on the day of Pentecost resulted in 3,000 souls being saved on that one magnificent day, and he continued to preach the good news about Jesus and the salvation that He had made available to the world until he himself was captured and crucified. This weak man who had denied his Saviour not once, but three times, became transformed into a mighty man of God who was ready and willing to lay down his own life rather than abandon the mission which Jesus had given him.
This just goes to show that when we Christians fail as we inevitably will, we need to get back up, ask for God’s forgiveness and guidance, and then charge on ahead as we work towards completing our own little part of the Great Commission. Falling short of God’s expectations of us is regrettable, but He will indeed forgive us and use us to further His ministry if we will only get back up, ask for repentance, and forge ahead.
Amen!!