April 05, 2021: Coming to the End of Our Self is the Beginning of Living Our Life for Jesus Christ.

In Chapter 4 of the book, Absolute Surrender, written by Andrew Murray, entitled "Peter's Repentance", this chapter deals with the repentance of the Apostle Peter. Over the Easter holiday, I am sure we all saw movies highlighting the life of Christ. The one part that always gets to me is the part when the apostle Peter had to recognize his own "strong self-will" when he came to deny his Lord after Jesus's arrest.

It was at that moment upon his third denial of his Lord in the courtyard of the High Priest, that Peter's eyes caught Jesus' eyes and Peter realized how sinful he truly was...even after walking with Jesus so closely for three years...and went away and wept bitterly.

I believe we all must come to recognize how truly sinful we are, even as saved Christians, having walked with our Lord for months, even years. Even though many of us recognize that we need Jesus as our "Savior in our salvation", we still hold on to our "self-will" and begin to think over time that we're not so bad after accepting Jesus into our lives.

It was after my true and "absolute surrender" to my Lord and recognizing daily that I am still a wretched sinner, that this knowledge of myself, keeps me surrender to Him. I'm not saying that I'm not forgiven for my sins...I know I am, but it is my acknowledgement of my sinful nature that keeps me humble before my Lord.

I Peter 5:6-8 (NIV)

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

In John 13: 36-38, Jesus told the apostle Peter that he could not follow Him now, but Peter stated, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.” Why was Peter not ready to follow Jesus now? What was it that Peter had to come to recognize in his life that disqualified him in fully serving Jesus at this time?

Peter was not in a fit state to follow Christ, because he had not been brought to an end of himself; he did not know himself, and he therefore could not follow Christ. But when he went out and "wept bitterly", then came the great change.

PERSONNAL COMMENT:

If we want to begin living a "Life for Christ", we must come to the "end of ourselves", which means "absolutely surrendering" everything to our Lord. Not until we come to the point in our life of seeing the "wretched sinful nature" that is in our life, we will not be able to fall to our knees in brokenness as the Apostle Peter did. Jesus knows us far more than we will ever know ourselves. Let us surrender all to Him and find the peace He is waiting to give us.