“Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire warming himself, they asked him again, “You’re not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it, saying, “No, I am not.” But one of the household slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?” Again Peter denied it. And immediately a rooster crowed.”
–John 18:25-27 (NLT)

Have you ever done something you thought God would never forgive? Little mistakes are easy to make, and God forgives those all the time. Everyone stumbles once in a while as they walk with God. But what about the really big mistakes? Does God forgive you for those, or will He hold them against you forever?

Peter was one of Jesus’ disciples, and he believed he would never let his master down. Peter followed Jesus during his ministry, which lasted about 3 years. The disciple’s confidence shown loud and clear on Jesus’ last evening with his followers. He promised Jesus he would never deny or betray Him. But, as you probably know, Peter denied Jesus three times that night when his enemies tried to accuse him of following Christ, the so-called criminal.

Jesus had predicted that a rooster would crow once Peter had denied Him three times, and this was exactly what happened. God used a rooster to express symbolism in two different ways.

The rooster’s presence at that time was rather strange, to say the least. The Jewish feast of Passover was taking place. This feast was meant to be a time of cleanliness and purity. Roosters are very dirty and messy birds, so they were banned from Jerusalem during Passover. So, the rooster’s crow symbolized Peter’s “messy” mistake that night.

Of course, roosters don’t symbolize messiness to us. We all know roosters crow when a new day dawns. Just as dawn always follows darkness, God has promised that His mercy will follow our greatest suffering.

As Peter found out, we all make plenty of mistakes in our daily lives. We like to believe we’re in control and we can do everything correctly, but all of us stumble and fall sometimes. We may let ourselves down or disappoint others, and we may start to believe we’ve completely ruined our relationship with God.

If you believe you’re in big trouble with God today, remember the symbol of the rooster. Maybe you’ve done something that’s dirty in God’s eyes, but our Father has promised to forgive all of your sins as long as you follow Him. Thanks to Him, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. If you ask Him to forgive what you’ve done, He will bring the dawn of peace and forgiveness into your heart.

If you don’t already know God, study His word and consider asking Him to enter your life and forgive your sins. Then you will see the dawn of His love and forgiveness begin in your heart today. If you do know Christ, take the time to re-dedicate yourself to Him and make Him your first priority. God will not hold these mistakes against you if you humbly ask for His forgiveness.

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