Luke 23 tells the story of three people hanging on crosses. One of the criminals rebuked the other, admitted his own guilt, and recognized that Jesus was innocent. In response, Jesus assured him that he would be with Him in heaven.

The Bible makes it clear that eternal life cannot be earned. All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Our part is to confess our sins, repent, and place our faith in Jesus trusting that He paid the penalty for our sins and to follow Him as our Lord and Savior.

In Matthew 16, Jesus foretells his death and resurrection but Peter rebukes him. Jesus spoke truth to Peter and told him to set his mind on things of God and not man. Sometimes a compliment will come and sometimes a rebuke might come, but our response shapes the growth that comes from it. Peter learned from his mistake and in Acts we see that he gave his life to following Jesus.

In Matthew 16, Jesus asks who do people say that He is and Peter answers you are the Christ the son of the living God. God opened Peter's heart so that he could understand to trust the Lord Jesus as savior. Peter had an aha moment. Just like the prophet Jeremiah, we too are to extract the precious from the worthless. Our job is to allow the Lord God to work through us in proclaiming Christ, because it is Him who opens the eyes of the unbeliever.