Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Mark 14:29. “Peter said to Him, ‘Even if everyone deserts you, I never will.'”

Background

Are you a big talker? I saw the movie We Are Marshall recently. It tells the story of the 1970 football team from Marshall University that was killed in a plane crash returning from a game at East Carolina University and the subsequent rebuilding of the football program after the tragedy. In the movie, shortly after a new head coach is hired, he goes to the home of one of the assistant coaches that wasn’t on the flight to try and convince him to return to the team. It turns out he had driven to a recruit’s house and did not return home on the plane with the rest of the team. But the coach is struggling with how the events have unfolded, his life spared while his colleagues and team are gone. He tells the new head coach, “When I got here, they told me I was in charge of recruiting, too, so that first year I went out and got us 20 kids. Went to 20 homes. Sat in 20 living rooms. And I promised 20 mothers that I’d look after their sons. It’d have been the class of ’73. There’s not one of them left. So let me ask you, Jack: How am I supposed to look a mother in the eye and promise her anything ever again?”

Application

This assistant coach was not a big talker. He was just doing his job, trying to convince football players to come play for his team. He figured he’d help them keep their grades up, stay away from the wrong parts of town, and get to practice and meetings on time. He didn’t think he’d encounter a plane dropping from the sky. But when it mattered most, he couldn’t keep the one promise he had made. Just like Peter. He was a big talker, though. He told Jesus that he would never desert Him, that he would even die with Him before he denied Him. But he couldn’t keep his promise, either. A few hours later, when it mattered most, Peter’s plane dropped, and he was left with the wreckage. But God doesn’t trust in our promises. He doesn’t depend on our faithfulness. He made the covenant and sealed it with His blood. We can promise all we want, but He doesn’t rely on that. And thank God He doesn’t. So let your next promise be to stop making promises, and finally trust Him completely.

Charge

As we seek Him today, don’t let your failures keep you from coming back to Jesus. Don’t let others’ broken promises hinder you from seeing the true image of the Savior.

Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words