THE ‘ICE BREAKER’ RACE
Sakkie Parsons
I would like to share a thought that came to me as I reflected on the ‘Ice Breaker’ 10-kilometer race I recently did with my guide, Marix. As always, she guided me through the entire course with such a kind and patient spirit, helping me face all the unique challenges of running as someone who is blind.
I am someone who feels the cold very easily.
With a smile, Even the winter sun at midday can still leave me shivering. So you can imagine how I felt that morning as we walked across the frost-covered grass, hearing the crunch under my running shoes!
But as I thought back on this wonderful experience with Marix—who cared for me so well—I was reminded of how cold circumstances in life can affect us as Christians when we take our eyes off Jesus. Like Peter, we too can find ourselves in spiritually freezing situations.
Not long before Jesus’ arrest, Peter had been ready to fight to the death for Him.
Do you remember the scene? Judas arrived, not with just a handful of men, but with a detachment of soldiers and officers carrying torches and weapons:
John 18:3 (AMP)
So Judas, having obtained the Roman cohort and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
Yet this did not scare Simon Peter!
We read:
John 18:10–11
10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. (The slave’s name was Malchus.)
11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword back into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given Me?”
Peter wasn’t aiming for the man’s ear—he was aiming for his head! But as a fisherman, he wasn’t skilled with a sword.
And yet, just a short while later, Peter, chilled by the cold of the night, found himself sitting by a fire among Jesus’ enemies and mockers to warm himself. And there, under pressure, the same man who had been ready to take on a whole detachment of soldiers swore he didn’t even know Jesus:
Matthew 26:74–75
74 Then he began to curse [violently] and swear an oath, “I do not know the Man!” And at that moment a rooster crowed.
75 And Peter remembered the prophetic words of Jesus, when He had said to him, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly [deeply grieved and remorseful].
Do you see?
A short while back, Peter was ready to die for Jesus. Yet, when he gave in to his circumstances—the bitter cold and the pressure of being surrounded by mockers—he denied his Lord, even swearing and cursing to prove, “Look, I’m one of you! I can curse just like you and even swear falsely in God’s name.”
That is why Jesus warns us:
Matthew 26:41
Keep actively watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.
And years later, Peter himself, having learned from bitter experience and now led by the Holy Spirit, echoed those words. As he faced his own crucifixion—which he requested be upside down, feeling unworthy to die in the same way as his Lord—he wrote:
1 Peter 5:8
Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.
So let us also stay awake and pray.
May we not, because of loneliness or the “cold” of isolation—or the pressure to please others—seek warmth in the fires of those who mock our Lord. May we not, like Peter, deny the One who hung on the cross so that we, who have accepted Him as our Savior, would never have to face eternal separation from God.
In other words, let us not live like the world and risk trading eternal life in heaven for eternal death in hell—a horrific death from which there is no relief and no end.
Greetings,
Sakkie