Chomp on this!
Read Matthew 26:69-75 before you start.
You’re in a soccer game. You’re about to make a pass, but you totally miss the ball. Then you run down the field with no one around you and fall. Everyone laughs. To cover up those mistakes, you decide you have to score a goal. You make the perfect run and receive the ball. You take one touch and shoot. The goalie blocks the ball, which comes back and hits you, knocking you over. You lie on the ground, feeling horrible and wishing you could start the game over.
I bet that’s how Peter felt after he betrayed Jesus three times. At the moment when the rooster crowed, Peter remembered everything. He remembered how Jesus told him he would sin and how he refused to believe Jesus. After that he felt really bad. The Bible says, “Then Peter went outside and cried bitterly” (Matthew 26:75).
He didn't feel bad because Jesus wouldn’t forgive him; he felt bad because he didn't listen to Jesus. Peter knew he would be forgiven no matter how bad of a mistake he made, but he also knew that as a disciple he had not done what God wanted. Just like Peter knew he was forgiven when he sinned because of what Jesus was about to do, we know our sins are forgiven too, no matter how big they are.
God’s mercy is new every morning. You can start over each day.
Dear Lord, when I make a mistake, please help me trust in you and be confident that my sins are forgiven because of what you did for everyone. Amen.
*This devotion was written by Hannah, a kid just like you.
