I feel as committed to Jesus as Peter. I think most of us feel this way: we will never fall away from Jesus or deny His Name even if suffering severe persecution. Yet, how many times have we failed already? How many times have we remained silent among the pagans or entered into their sinful conversation, activity, or opinion? How many times have we feared the opinion of men more than the opinion of God? Perhaps more importantly, are we even aware of the depths of sin in our hearts that so long to be loved, accepted, and adored by the world? Do we watch our souls, ensuring they are kept from running wholeheartedly toward the selfish indulgence they so long to fulfill? Do we measure our desires against the will of God by reading voraciously the word of God so that we are constantly corrected, instructed, and rebuked toward the things of God and not the desires of our flesh? Do we pray without ceasing for purity of heart and mind so that we do not gratify the desires of the sinful nature? Is prayer the place we go for power to live and to cleanse our souls from the evil we have seen in our hearts and secretly want in our lives? Talk is cheap. Everyone is a believer in God, but few are disciples. Few indeed are those who have taken up their cross, denied themselves, and follow Jesus in absolute obedience to every word the Father has spoken.