April 2009 Apostolos

Confessing Your Sinfulness

When Jesus started his ministry he first began to call his Disciples.  Disciples were people that would follow a Rabbi.  They would study under the Rabbi in order to try and be like the Rabbi.  Here is what happened when Jesus called Simon Peter:

“[Jesus] got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore.  Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.  When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”  Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.  But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”  When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.  So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:3-8)

I’ve always thought it was interesting how Peter reacted to this miracle.  He wasn’t like, “Jesus!  You rock!”  He didn’t give him a high five or a standing ovation.  He immediately dropped to his knees and cried out, “I am a sinful man!”

Peter saw Jesus as He truly is: Holy, Sinless, Unblemished, God!  He recognized how sinful he was before God and when he was confronted with God’s power, he suddenly felt inadequate.  “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

Lent is the time of year that we set aside to really reflect on our sin.  It is the time leading up to Easter where we see the power of Jesus resurrecting from the dead.  As we’re confronted with Jesus’ resurrection, during lent we fall to our knees and cry out how sinful we are to God.

Really take some time in the next couple weeks and think about how we sin against God.  The Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

As a Christian, how are you different from the rest of the world?  When others see you, can they tell by your actions that you’re a Christian?  Are you really a new creation?  Has your old self gone away and are you new?

If you’re struggling with sin—trying hard to overcome a certain sin or just feeling guilty by the weight of sin on your life—there is hope in Jesus.  That’s what Easter is all about.  By falling to our knees and crying “I am sinful,” we can invite the forgiveness of God through Jesus.  He’ll even make you into a new creation if you let Him.