It's a process...

Become who you are…

When I think of people in the Bible who did a great job as a Christian, I must say Peter is not one that comes to mind at first. Think about the stories we hear about him most often—sinking as he walked on water, denying Christ (and three times), cutting off the guard’s ear, being called Satan by Jesus—not very positive stories. Honestly though these stories are probably the reason we can relate to him the most. Think about it, Peter was a pretty ordinary guy. He had a job as a fisherman. As we can see from the Bible stories, he made lots of mistakes. But that’s not the end of Peter’s story. He also did get things right many times. He went on to preach sermons that saved thousands in the early church. He even wrote two books of the Bible. For starting out as such an ordinary guy, he ended up doing great things, or more accurately God was able to do great things through him. Peter is an example of becoming who you are in Christ.

So what can we learn from Peter? There are so many lessons we can learn from Peter, but the one I’d like to focus on is how Peter learned from his experiences.

I know how sleepy you can feel reading these devos, so stand up and read Matthew 17:24-26. (If no one is close enough to you to be distracted, read the verses out loud.)

Who are the three characters in this story?

Did Jesus have to pay the tax?

Every year tax was collected to support the Temple. So the tax collectors come to Peter asking if Jesus is going to pay the tax. Peter doesn’t think Jesus should have to pay the Temple tax—why? Well no king collects taxes from his son, so Jesus, being the Son of God, shouldn’t have to pay the Temple tax. So Jesus doesn’t pay the tax, right? He’s a son and sons are exempt.

Ok read verse 27. What’s Jesus tell Peter to do?

Jesus pays the tax. He demonstrated to Peter the importance of respecting earthly authorities. If you were Peter what part of that story would you remember? If it were me, I’d be telling all my friends about how I caught a fish that had a coin in its mouth that, get this, had the exact amount of money Jesus and I needed to pay the tax. My focus would definitely be on the fish. But what did Peter learn from this experience?

Stand up and read 1 Peter 2:13-18. What does Peter write—all about submitting to the king or anyone in authority over you, whether that person is good or evil.

Peter learned from his experiences. He didn’t just walk away with a good story about a fish. He learned that Christians should obey the law and respect their authorities.

Now don’t think that he learned this once and that was it. In John 18:10, Peter doesn’t respect his authorities and cuts off a guy’s ear. So don’t be disheartened if you revert back to old behaviors. Becoming who you are is a process. James 1:2-3 talks about how we will encounter trials that will test our faith, the question is will you allow Him to use them to become who you are?

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This is the second of the two devotionals I wrote for our Maine Missions Trip. Our focus for the week was "Become Who You Are."