Do Not Stop Halfway

Peter knew the pain of failing Jesus. He had said he would stand firm, yet he denied the Master under pressure. His story remained under Christ’s care. Jesus had already said to him, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” (Luke 22:31-32, KJV)

Those words show the care of Jesus before Peter’s fall. The Lord knew his weakness and upheld his faith by grace. Peter would need to return to the path with a humbled heart.

Hebrews 12:1-3 calls us to “run with patience the race that is set before us,” looking unto Jesus. The passage also remembers how Christ endured hostility against Himself. Keeping our eyes on Jesus protects the heart from the kind of weariness that makes a person want to quit.

There are days when faith feels small. There are moments when failure feels heavy. Peter reminds us that a fall must be brought before God, without leaving the path. The Lord deals with the heart and calls His children to keep going.

Life with Christ is walked one step at a time. Those who remain on the path learn to depend on the Lord’s grace. God sustains those who return to Him with sincerity.

1 ¶ Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

31 And the Lord said, ‹Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired› [to have] ‹you, that he may sift› [you] ‹as wheat:›

32 ‹But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.›