Day 69

Numbers 14:1‐15:16; Mark 14:53‐72; Psalm 53:1‐6; Proverbs 11:4

Denying the Jesus We Love

Most of us would be the very first to say that we would not deny Jesus, just like Peter told Jesus Himself that he would never deny Him. However, I believe that we are far too often like Peter. If we are not careful, we deny Jesus in essential areas of our lives and maybe even at essential times in our lives.

When we deny God’s wisdom in our life, we deny Jesus—just as surely as Peter did.

I remember once many years ago when my boss instructed me (I was a financial manager) to lie to our accountant concerning a large amount of inventory that he didn’t want to claim. If that inventory wasn’t there, he would stand to gain thousands of dollars in tax money. He knew that I was a follower of Jesus, and in fact, he is of another faith. I kindly told him I would not do it, but I could see that to him it was a simple “business” decision. I stood there wondering if I would lose my job. Here is what I said, “If I can lie to the accountant then I can surely lie to you. And I don’t think you want that.” He understood that I managed hundreds of thousands of dollars for his companies. I guess he understood. I kept my job.

In situations like these, it can be easy to feel the pressure to deny our faith in Jesus by bowing to worldly pressures. It’s easier than we might think to compromise our faith.

When we struggle with worldly pressures, guilt, or fear, we must recognize our vulnerability and resist the temptation to compromise our faith, our values, and our morals.

Jan Puterbaugh