God uses all kinds of people. He uses the refined and educated, but He also uses the rough and ignorant. Simon Peter was the kind of person that most people would place in the latter category. He was the kind of guy that always had something to say, even when he should have kept his mouth shut. He probably would not have been the first man that you or I would have voted for if a pulpit committee had presented him as a candidate to pastor a church, but that didn’t matter to Jesus. Jesus called Peter to follow Him, changed Peter from a fisherman to a fisher of men, and later charged Peter with shepherding His sheep.
The change that came over Peter’s life through his time with Jesus is best summarized in Acts 4:13. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” Peter may not have been very polished to begin with, but through the grace of God Peter changed. As he learned more about Jesus, he grew in grace and in knowledge. The life of Peter is a case study in the power of Jesus to transform an individual. We can admire Peter for his loyalty and his boldness, but we must give Jesus the glory because it was only through His teaching, training and empowering that Peter became the man he was.
As Peter concluded his last letter to the believers, he knew that his time on earth was coming to an end. He had reminded them of the promise of Christ’s return. He had warned them that scoffers would continue to mock them for believing that promise. He had encouraged them to live right anyway. He wanted to impress on the believers that he loved so much the importance of living holy lives and continually growing for the glory of God while we wait for our blessed hope. Life is too short to waste our time with frivolous pursuits and false doctrines. We must be growing for the glory of God.
The change that came over Peter’s life through his time with Jesus is best summarized in Acts 4:13. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” Peter may not have been very polished to begin with, but through the grace of God Peter changed. As he learned more about Jesus, he grew in grace and in knowledge. The life of Peter is a case study in the power of Jesus to transform an individual. We can admire Peter for his loyalty and his boldness, but we must give Jesus the glory because it was only through His teaching, training and empowering that Peter became the man he was.
As Peter concluded his last letter to the believers, he knew that his time on earth was coming to an end. He had reminded them of the promise of Christ’s return. He had warned them that scoffers would continue to mock them for believing that promise. He had encouraged them to live right anyway. He wanted to impress on the believers that he loved so much the importance of living holy lives and continually growing for the glory of God while we wait for our blessed hope. Life is too short to waste our time with frivolous pursuits and false doctrines. We must be growing for the glory of God.