Daily Office Readings for Saturday of the 2nd Week of Advent: Year 1
Morning, Psalms 30 and 32; Evening, Psalms 42 and 43:
Isaiah 8:1 to 15; 2nd Thessalonians 3:6 to 18; Luke 22:31 to 38:
“But I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32)
It seems that our Lord Jesus already knows that Peter will fall away, and he does. But it seems that Jesus also knows that Peter will come to himself, and return to the Lord, and Peter does that too.
To this point the apostles had been believing primarily on the faith of Jesus. But Jesus prays that they, and we, come into our own faith. Jesus tells Peter about his denial of him three times before the rooster crows. I have heard that rooster crow. I hear that rooster crow every time I do something that is inconsistent with the teachings of our Lord Jesus. I hear the rooster and look into the eyes of a disappointed, yet, loving and forgiving Jesus.
It is my sincere intention to “come to myself.” I am tired of what that rooster’s crow means to me. I want to be in a place where I can hear the crow and smile because I will know it no longer applies to my denial of the teachings of Jesus. How about you? Have you heard the crow of the rooster? When you hear it, do you ponder about how you might have done or said something that you would not want our Lord Jesus to witness?
Come into your own faith. Our Lord Jesus is still praying that we come into our own faith. We will fail from time to time to be who we are created to be. But it’s not over. We also have the responsibility of when we turn back, to assist our brothers and sisters with their struggle with the rooster’s crow. Let’s let that rooster remind us of what we are taught by our Lord Jesus, and like Peter, turn our lives around so that the rooster’s crow will be the sound of happiness because we have moved on.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Iran.
As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 