The Recursive Grace

[S] Mark 14:31 --
 ³¹But Peter kept saying insistently, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" And they all were saying the same thing also.

[O] Peter's response to Jesus' remark about how he will deny Jesus three times before the rooster crows while other disciples were echoing reminded me how Jesus already knew all this and yet He patiently talked to Peter.  By Jesus' saying this, it is clear Peter would indeed deny Him three times because Jesus always tells the truth, but then why did He even bother telling Peter this?  It was really for Peter's benefit because he was the one with the limitation of not knowing the future and when (not if) it happens to him, he would remember how Jesus even though He was fully aware of Peter's denial in the future still loved him and cared for him to get out of his failure into His grace.

Based on this concept, I began to think recursively (much like what you'd see when you take a TV camera and point at it own TV monitor screen) where God's grace covers Peter's failure which He already knew even before it happened and even if Peter knew Jesus knew it, he committed what he said he wouldn't do in his life time.  Confused?  Yeah, it goes round and round but the good news is that His Cross put a stop to all this and gave us a way out of that into His wonderful and peaceful grace.

[A] Whether I want to or not, I'm in the midst of this recursive relationship with God.  One things I can do is to tap into His grace given through the Cross such that I would not do things I don't want to do which I know Jesus knows that I am most likely going to commit anyways.  Sounds too pessimistic at first but I want to apply this not to be indifferent about my life's courses but as a commitment to live out my life to go against the grain of this world's "gravity."  I want to make less and less mistakes initiated by relying on my own strength that "I can do this."

[P] Dear God, Your grace touches me today deeply through this passage and may I continue to stick close to Your wonderful grace throughout my life.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.