Perfectly Imperfect

He had just swallowed a bug. Because his jaw was hanging open in awe, and that makes it really easy for flies and such to buzz inside and down his throat.

Peter had just witnessed something incredible.

Jesus had been teaching from his boat, and then told him to toss his net into the deep. He had tried to tell Jesus that he had already been out all night, and had caught nothing. Peter somehow found himself agreeing to do what Jesus said anyways.

And it worked!

He had to frantically wave and shout at his friends to come help him. They had just finishing hauling the overflowing nets onto their boats. Now they were heading back to shore.

Peter shook his head in amazement once again. This was no ordinary man. The way he spoke, taught, and now this. He was hardly a man. He was more like a...

He dropped onto the boat floor, making it tip back and forth. He was a man of God! "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, oh, Lord!" He shouldn't be in the presence of someone like Jesus! He wasn't the right kind of man. Peter knew he needed to fix so many things in his life. He wasn't worthy. He wasn't deserving. He wasn't good enough.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked up at Jesus.

He was grinning at him! "Don't be afraid. From now on you will be catching men."

Based on Luke 5:7-11

"But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.'" Luke 5:8

Peter knew from the moment those fish started piling into his boat that Jesus was something special. He even called him, "Lord." But despite that, Peter knew he wasn't fit to be in Jesus' presence. So he told Him the only reasonable solution for contact between a sinful man and a Holy God: someone needed to leave.

Do you ever feel like you have to be perfect to come before God? Do you ever feel like you need to be perfect? Have you ever tried to hide your sins from God? What about when you pray? Are your prayers used solely to ask for forgiveness and have nothing to do with actually talking to God, and building your relationship? These are easy, dangerous habits to develop.

Peter didn't know yet that Jesus came to change all the things he had been taught since birth. Soon access to God would not be restricted.

However...

It's not restricted for us...

So why do we fall into the same pattern?

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8

We've been given a gift. We don't need to be perfect to accept that gift. We just need to take it from His outstretched hands.

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Stop worrying about being perfect for God. He wants you, just as you are. In all of your perfectly imperfection. I'm not saying God won't ever ask you to become more like Him, after all, that is the goal. God doesn't need to be perfect already. He will help you grow. You just need to go to Him with a willing heart.

V. Joy Palmer