And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.

Mark 14:67-68

What a sad moment in the life of a great man. Peter was cold, nothing shameful about that. He decided to warm himself by a fire. Again, nothing wrong with that. But Peter made the mistake of having a cooled heart to go with cold hands.

fire

Although Mark doesn’t say it, John’s record of this event shows that there were “servants and officers” also warming by the fire. Peter chose to keep warm by the wrong people. That’s no way to keep warm.

When confronted with his association with Jesus, he immediately denies even knowing the Master. Peter chose to warm his hands but chill his love for Christ. That’s no way to keep warm.

For a moment, Peter cared more about being selfish than serving. He was selfish to surround himself with men who had just arrested his Master (not to mention potential friends of the man whose ear he recently had sliced off). He was selfish to think of saving his own skin by denying Christ, instead of faithfully admitting to being a disciple of His.

Peter was cold, but if he wanted to keep warm he would have checked his company and fortified his faith. His hands may still have been icy but his heart and his vigor would have been burning with love for his Lord. It took a painful experience for him to learn that lesson, but eventually he did. Let’s all learn from his mistakes so that we don’t have to make the same ones.

Have a great day!