And Peter took him in hand and began to rebuke him, saying ¨Away with the thought, sir; this shall not happen to you.¨ But he turned and said to Peter ¨Go behind me, Satan; you are my snare because you do not have God´s ideas but men´s.¨ Matthew 16:22-23 (Byington)
Over and over again we come across accounts of Jesus having to scold us for our insistence on dragging all things down to our earthly level. Here in Matthew 16 verses 21 to 28 we find Jesus using His words like a sharp double-edged sword and cutting down Peter verbally for doing just this.
Jesus, the very Son of God was very deliberately working out His plan of salvation for the whole human race. When He tried to prepare His followers and instruct them along these lines, Peter (or we could place our own name in there too), could not see anything but what was important to himself and those he cared for at that moment in time.
Now we could excuse Peter´s actions and our own by saying that we are only concerned for our Lord and want good things for Him. But by interpreting the passing scenes and situations in life using our human standards and ways is highly insulting to God. The Devil would have it this way and as long as he can blind us to the workings and true intentions of God, he is doing a fine job.
In the life of Jesus, God knew that a certain amount of suffering had to be endured to accomplish His perfect plan of redemption. With us it may be similar and God may use trying times to teach and draw His true followers to closer to Him. We should be able to note that God can and does work in even the most difficult of times and never rests until all of His sheep are safely brought into the fold.
You and I will not gain many friends if we are so crass as to tell others to expect difficulties or suffering. The current brand of Christian thought prefers to take hold of the positive benefits of Christ and make it seem that as conquerors over sin, we can relax and celebrate loudly as all that pain is behind us.
But Jesus´ words go out not only to Peter, but to us today as well. ¨Get back, Satan!¨ He says, ¨Don´t get caught up in yourselves or your tiny reality where you live.¨ He has warned us that we must not shoot for what we want or what we think would be nice for everyone. God has a great plan and He is carrying it out. But unfortunately we cannot say that the celebration has started and that Jesus and His people are out of the hot water yet.
In verses 24 to 28 Jesus goes on to point out what kind of attitude we need to take. Here he flat-out to stop caring about ourselves. With an actual effort and in a very deliberate way we need to put our own desires, comforts and ideas behind us and take up our crosses to follow Jesus.
Dear Lord, we realize that we may have few friends if we are bold enough to stand on Your words and lift the weight of our cross to our own shoulders. But you had to reprimand Your beloved Peter when he let too much of the world into his vision of things. So then we press forward in our attempt to please You. We lift up our eyes and our hearts to You to see which way You trod. Whatever the cost, we would follow in Your footsteps, leaving behind our very selves so as to reach that life which You have spoken of. Let us take no easy road but set our hearts and hopes on seeing that day of glory when You will return. Until that day help us to rejoice in our sufferings as we realize your plan is unfolding and we are blessed to take part as You did, even through the pain and discomfort we may face.
In your name we pray,
Amen
Searching For Christ 
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