Ruby Ramsey

 Peter answered and said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble." Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" And so said all the disciples.( Matthew 26:33-35)

Oh, how miserable Peter must have felt when the rooster crowed! Immediately he knew what Jesus had said to him was true. He had denied his Lord.

Denying Jesus is a terrible thing to do. So are all sins. Do we weep bitterly when we sin? Perhaps we should. Sometimes we take sin too casually. But all sin displeases God. He asks us not to sin.

These seem to be the words of Agur. He is requesting things of God. He fears that if he has too much he may deny the Lord, and if he has too little he may curse God. Do we make excuses like that? Do you ask God for things you think you need only to become angry when God does not comply? God is holy and omnipotent. He knows what we truly need and He promises to provide it (Philippians 4:19). Wouldn't it be good to never deny or denounce our Lord? How many of us could say that we would never deny God and Christ? What if we would be told that if we did not deny God, we would be beheaded? What would we do? Or what if we were told our children would be tortured in front of our eyes? That would be much harder. We would like to believe that we are strong enough and faithful enough and trusting in God enough to remain faithful, but we really don't know what we would do. I believe that Peter meant what he said when he said "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You." Yet, when he was put to the test, he failed. We might do just as Peter did.

They profess to know God, but in work they deny Him, being abominable, and disqualified for every good work. (Titus 1:16)

We can deny God by our actions as well as our words. When we act worldly, we deny that God lives in us. What could we do to assure that we would never deny God? Perhaps if we would increase our faith, it would help. Perhaps if we developed more trust in God. We should read this verse over and over:

He told us we would have trials and temptations, but He promises to help us. If we die for the cause of Christ as the martyrs did, we know that we will have a home in heaven. Remember what God told Joshua when he became the leader of the Israelites:

That is something we know: God will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Let's be strong and faithful to our God!