Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” Mark 14:29, ESV

I didn’t plan on my mouth flying open, but suddenly it did.

The thought bubbles floating around my brain shed their delicate membranes. They mutated into words with sharp talons, and they flew straight out of my very own lips. Shooting harsh words wasn’t what I set out to do. But in the end, it’s what I did.

I fell down.

Have you ever fallen down? If you have, you are in good company. Falling is a reality for each of us. And our dear ancestors of the bible fell down too. A LOT. Even when they were they weren’t planning to—like Peter. Just like zealous, big-mouthed Peter who denied Jesus.

“I will not,” Peter said. But Peter did.

The fatal error of Peter is obvious to us, but Peter didn’t have a clue. Peter glanced around and piously set himself on a pedestal saying, “Even though they fall away, I will not.” Peter thought he was better than falling—better than the others.

Deny Jesus? No way! Peter arrogantly believed “the others” were subject to failure–certainly not him. But arrogance is the staircase we climb with nowhere to stand at the top with a guaranteed fall to greet us. All too often, we are confident in our own skin instead of dependent on the God who owns our skin. And we can be so bent on success that falling isn’t on our radars. But it should be—because if we don’t plan for a fall, we can count on a fail.

Failing to plan truly is planning to fail.

Man Woman with a Plan

Even though we walk with the Lord, we are still prone to wandering off faster than a three year old at the Dollar Tree. We’ll slip, trip and fall. It’s just in our nature. Knowing ourselves is half the battle, and it’s key to our plan of attack.

So, let’s just say it out loud together-

“I can fall. And sometimes, I will fall.”

But we have hope! Though our flesh is weak. the Spirit is willing! True—Peter had Jesus in all His glory right in his face, I believe we have a leg up on him. If we are new creations in Christ, we have the SPIRIT OF CHRIST IN US. And a mark of God’s presence in us is the move of His Spirit through us.

We literally have the power of Heaven residing in us. The power to keep us from falling if we would but plan to tap into it.

So, what’s the plan Stan? The plan is to know and decide to do the will of God:

To decide Christ is worthy of our sacrifice.

To decide Christ worthy of our time and resources.

To decide Christ is worthy of our obedience.

Basically, we decide to lay down instead of falling down. We lay down on purpose to live out our purpose.

If we are in Christ, our calling—our purpose is clear. To make disciples. To love others. To follow in the footsteps of Jesus. And Jesus laid down more than any of us could ever lay down. He laid down His very life, taking on human form to atone for the sins of man.

1 John 3:16 says this:

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” (ESV)

And John 15:13 says,

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (ESV)

Laying down is leaving behind sin that besets love’s reach from our lives. A preemptive strike is order. It’s time to plan. It’s time to lay that thing down before we trip and fall over it.

What causes you to fall down?

What verses can we plan to obey and prescribe to our hearts so the love of Christ prevails in our lives?

If you need help planning, I’d be happy to help! Do not hesitate to ask!

Linking up with Suzanne Eller, #LiveFreeThursday, Kelly Balraie #RaraLinkup, Arabah Joy Grace and Truth

Photo Credit:

Pixabay
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