| “Peter said unto Him (the Lord Jesus), Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee” (Matthew 26:35). |
| “Then began he (Peter) to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man (the Lord Jesus)” (Matthew 26:74). |
| “And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him (Peter)” (Matthew 14:31). |
| “And he (Peter) gave her (Dorcas) his hand, and lifted her up, and … presented her alive” (Acts 9:41). |
| Have you ever thought of how we learn things in this world? Right from the time we are born, we begin to learn things, but how do we learn them? |
| There are really only two ways to learn something. We can learn things by having other people tell them to us. Our parents, relatives, teachers at school, etc. all teach us things by telling them to us. Or perhaps we read things in books, or on the internet. Sometimes, of course, people tell us things that are not true, or we read something that is not true. Then later we may have to correct what we think we know. However, listening to others is one way of learning. |
| The other way of learning is by experience. For example, when I was a boy we had a wood stove in our home, and as children we quickly learned that it was hot. If we touched it, it would burn us, and we did not touch it again. That is learning by experience. No one had to teach us that the stove was hot; we learned by experience. |
| We see both of these ways of learning in the Bible, and particularly in the case of Peter. He thought he was strong enough to follow the Lord Jesus in his own strength, even if it meant dying with Him. He said that he would never deny the Lord Jesus, yet, as we see in the second verse today, he did deny Him, and with cursing and swearing. He had to learn by experience how weak he was. |
| But Peter also learned by listening to the Lord Jesus, and seeing what He did. When Peter was sinking in the waves of the sea, the Lord reached out to him, and lifted him up again. Then later, Peter was able, with the Lord’s strength, to lift up Dorcas and restore her to life. Peter had learned love and compassion from the Lord Jesus, for the Lord Jesus had taught this to him. So Peter learned things in both ways, and so did many others in the Bible. |
| It is the same with us. We can learn many things from others, and particularly from reading the Word of God. But we also learn things by experience, for sometimes we do not pay attention to what the Bible says. Then the Lord has to teach us by allowing us to make a mistake. Learning by experience really impresses the lesson on us, but it is better, if possible, to learn by listening to others. It can save us from a lot of problems. |
