knowing God

Proverbs 26

Matthew 26

1 Corinthians 7

1 Corinthians 8

Matt. 26:73 A little later some of the other bystanders came over to Peter and said, "You must be one of them; we can tell by your Galilean accent." 74 Peter swore, "A curse on me if I'm lying—I don't know the man!" And immediately the rooster crowed.

It's interesting that in Matthew's account, he records Peter swearing by God that he doesn't know Jesus. I find this fascinating because Jesus is God. So here Peter says effectively, "I swear by God that I don't know [God]." What a terrible statement - 100% hypocrisy. I suppose I effectively say that with my actions every time I sin. How stupid!

On the contrary, Paul repeats several times in 1 Corinthians 7 something like, "now, I don't have a specific command from the Lord on this, but I think ...", and he proceeds to instruct the church on principles of marriage behavior. It would be one thing if this was some random pastor's advice, but we recognize it as infallible Scripture! How can this be? It is a perfect example of how God's Holy Spirit molds a Believer's heart, soul, and mind to conform to His Will, at which point, what we think is what God thinks!

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word that teaches us what is right. Thank you for your Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth. Lord, I pray that I would not be like Peter and deny your influence in my life by what I say or do. Instead, Lord, I pray that you will mold my being to match exactly what you want. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.