In our weekend message yesterday, Pastor Chad reminded us from Mark 14 that Jesus is in the business of forgiving our failures. Jesus knew Peter would deny him three times and Jesus let him fail. But we know when we read the rest of the story (John 21) that Jesus fully forgives Peter and reinstates him. Peter, from that moment on, boldly and proudly identified himself as a follower of Jesus and invited others to follow Jesus wherever he went.
There are many ways and many times in all of our lives that we fail Jesus. The good news is that Jesus understands that we are weak and prone to failure. What is it about your past that you are having a hard time letting go of? What are you ashamed of? What sin have you committed that makes you wrestle with whether God can actually forgive you? Maybe you honestly are struggling with trusting Jesus right now during this Coronavirus pandemic and you are worried about your health, the health of a loved one or even your finances. Whether you wrestle with outright failure or your faith is weak, Jesus understands.
Pastor Chad reminded us that Jesus cares more about our heart condition than our track record. Whether you are burdened with guilt from your past actions or worry about your health or finances, take up Jesus’ invitation to come to him. He gently invites us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) Come to Jesus, confess your sins, admit your weakness, your lack of faith, your fears, your worries and find rest for your souls. He understands you, after all, he is your creator and he is your savior. He is in the business of forgiving our failures.
