And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.” But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.
A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” “Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.” Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

–-Parallel verses:
‭‭Romans‬ ‭7‬:‭21‬-‭25‬
So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

What we see Peter do here in denying Jesus, his close friend, his Lord, and his Savior is shocking! It is terribly cruel treatment for one who had given him so much. Especially since he swore to stand by Jesus’ side until the end. And yet when I look at my life, I find a bit of Peter’s hypocrisy has existed in me too.
There are times I have sworn I would not fail God again in my thought life or actions, and fall again to anger or lust or vengeance. But then I find later that I have done these things once again. So I guess I have found I am so much like Peter, that I have wept bitterly too.

Paul talks about this problem in the parallel verses here. He finds a war waging in his mind for control of it. When he intends to do good, evil is right there alongside him. His sinful nature will seemingly not be turned away. It is so bad, he describes himself as a prisoner to sin. Have I ever been honest enough to describe myself in such a way?

The good news is, we serve a loving Savior who died for our sins and loved us while we were still wretched sinners and hypocrites like Peter. We know he loves us! We know we are weak and cannot do the good we intend to do with the right motives and the right heart … without God’s help. So we have a choice each and every day: Do I go to God, meet the Almighty in his throne room, and pray to him to refresh my mind with his thoughts and his priorities and his ways? Will I repent of my sin and let him in to do his work? Or will I selfishly continue to pretend I have it all under control and I can fix the problems I find myself in?

Lord Jesus, like the Apostle Paul, I say, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” My one and only hope is in you. Keep me close to your heart and may my mind be full of the wonderful truths in your Word!