FBC Daily Devotional – May 17, 2021

Humble Confidence Versus Overconfidence

Well, a good Monday to you. We are past the midway point in the month of May already, into the third week of the third week of May and just getting started in a week. Hope your week is getting off to a good start and.

Maybe.

The devotionals are helping you do that. I don't know, but if so, that'd be a great blessing. If at least I trust that these times are challenging to us and getting us to think about some important spiritual things, things that we're reading right out of the Bible.

So I was reminded as I read today's passage in Mark chapter 14 of an exhortation that Paul gives to the church at Rome in Romans chapter 12. He exhorts the believers there, says not to think more highly of themselves than they ought to think.

It must be a real problem if that has to be codified in the scriptures, an exhortation such as that. But the reason I thought of that is because of what we read about Peter. I'm wondering how much of us, how much like Peter most of us are.

That is, we're inclined to think a little bit too much of ourselves, to have a little more confidence in ourselves than we ought to have. Sometimes self-confidence can be a good thing and we need it, but there's also a possibility of being overly confident, of having confidence in ourselves when it's really not justified.

Can you be confident, for example, when you get up in the morning and say, well, you know, this is going to be the day that I will not sin in any way shape or form. I'm not gonna do it. It's just not gonna happen.

Well, that may be a little bold overconfidence, I think. And Peter exhibits that kind of illegitimate, inappropriate overconfidence in our text, because Jesus is speaking. And Peter recognizes the authority of Jesus.

There's not a problem with that. But he thinks maybe Jesus just doesn't understand me as well as he thinks he does. I get the sense. Because Jesus says in chapter 14, verse 27, he says, All of you will be made to stumble because of me this night.

This is going to be the night of the betrayal. For it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. But after I've been raised, I will go before you to Galilee. But Peter said to him, Even if everyone else is made to stumble, not me.

I'll not stumble. I'll stand firm. Yeah, his affirmation that he would never deny Jesus, it's not even going to be what, 14, 15 hours later than that, that that boldness, that overconfidence is totally destroyed.

Well, hopefully you've lived the Christian life, if you are a believer in Christ, long enough to be careful about such such bold proclamations. In fact, later on in verse 50, we discover that it isn't going to be long until a test will come.

Because the soldiers come and arrest Jesus. Judas does his kiss of betrayal and so forth. And then in verse 50, it says,. Then they all forsook him and fled. All of them. So it didn't take long.

Before.

Peter's bold confession of commitment to Christ was put to the test. And you know, it may not be long before yours and mine is as well.

I mean,.

The kind of commitment that goes beyond getting up on Sunday morning and getting dressed and going to church for Sunday church. Well, you know, that's a wonderful commitment to make and I hope you make that commitment.

It's one you need to make. But what about our day-to-day commitment to Christ, living for him, being a Christian in our in our everyday life, in our workplace, and so forth, in our neighborhood. What about that commitment?

How long until that commitment is going to be really put to the test? And we have to stand the test. You know, it's easy to make confident assertions when things are going pretty smoothly and we seem to be on the winning side.

It's another thing altogether,.

When.

Things seem to go south in our circumstances and our confidence is put to the test. Will I be loyal to Jesus when it really costs me something.

To be loyal?

I think we need to ponder that, consider that today, and really maybe examine our own hearts and just see how committed we really are to the Lord Jesus. What kind of cost are we really enduring even now when it isn't so tough?

So maybe we need to think that through. So let's have a word of prayer and ask the Lord to work in us in that way. So our Heavenly Father, we do thank you for this challenge from Mark's gospel. We see too much of ourselves in Peter.

Possibly thinking too highly of ourselves, having too much confidence in ourselves when really our confidence needs to be in you and we need to be just plain humble and admit our own weaknesses. So Father, teach us that today so that when it really costs us something, we'll rely upon you and trust in you and be found faithful.

Help us to that end, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. Well, have a good rest of your Monday. Hope the day in the week gets off to a great start for you. Good day. God bless.