One thing (among the many) I love about Jesus Christ is his propensity to use the most unlikely people to achieve his purposes. Jesus continues God’s long practice of choosing the derelict, the scrawny, the young, the winless, the weak, the impulsive, the shy, the most implausible human beings to advance his divine and perfect plan here on earth. The Kingdom of God is perpetuated through the power of the Holy Spirit working and abiding in the contrite and surrendered hearts of ordinary human beings.
Perhaps one of the most illustrative examples of this beautifully peculiar practice of God is Peter. According to scripture, not only was Peter the first of Jesus’s followers to be chosen, he was also in Jesus’s “inner circle” of disciples, along with John and James.
After Peter received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2), he was used in a way that changed the course of history. Charles Spurgeon wrote of Peter,
This is the same Peter who once began to sink beneath the waves, yet now he is helping others to stand. This is the very Peter who denied his master, but he begins his Epistle by owning himself to be “an apostle of Jesus Christ.” What wonders the Lord Jesus had wrought for Peter by his grace!
Peter's story delineates a testimony that bears a striking "before and after" mark. The power of the Holy Spirit transformed this rash, rough and tumble fisherman from an obscure Galilean village, into the chief builder of the Church of Jesus Christ.
Reflect
The Bible paints a portrait of Peter before Pentecost (the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2) and after.
Read the following list of scriptures. Consider Peter’s personality, how he was used by Jesus, and the depth and quality of Christ’s love for him. Sketch a ‘T chart’ and contrast Peter’s attributes before Pentecost with those after Pentecost. Then consider the effect of the Holy Spirit on an ordinary life!
Pray
Dear Father, thank you that you have seen fit to use the least of us to further your Kingdom. Help us to daily surrender our hearts to you so that we may be used to advance your purposes on earth. Lord, help us to seek nothing but your glory and the good of others. Remind us of the gospel power we possess because of your Spirit within us. Amen.