Why Did the Lord Pick Peter?

I love being around senior citizens; I guess that's why I teach four classes at assisted living homes during the week, as well as one at West 7th on Sunday mornings. They say some of the neatest things at times, and they also make some very good observations. Sister Ravenelle Hale, a sister in Christ and a resident at Morning Pointe in Columbia, asked a question this morning as to why the Lord picked Peter as one of the twelve.

We had just finished discussing how Peter is so much more familiar to us than his brother Andrew, who brought him to Jesus. One of the observations that I made was Peter's diagnosis of what I call the foot-in-mouth syndrome (you know, where you open mouth and insert foot by speaking before thinking). Many times we see Peter's outspoken nature lead him to say things that he doesn't really understand. From statements such as "God forbid it, Lord" (Mt. 16:22 - rebuking Christ as He told of His upcoming death & resurrection) to his words "Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head" (Jn. 13:9 - misunderstanding the lesson of service Jesus was teaching by washing the disciples' feet), Peter shows his true colors. However, we see Peter do many great things such as making the great confession, preaching the first gospel sermon and becoming an elder in the Lord's church.

So what was it that Jesus saw in Peter? An observation from my perspective is that Jesus picked Peter to show how the Lord can use and imperfect person to accomplish His perfect plan. Peter had a lot of imperfections that are laid out for us in Scripture, but he played a major part in advancing the cause of the kingdom. Peter shows us how to grow and mature in the Lord, for we too all have character flaws that hinder our paths to spiritual maturity. Why did the Lord pick Peter? Deuteronomy 29:29 says "'the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.'" We don't know exactly what the Lord was thinking, but we know what outcome He had in mind. What flaws can the Lord mold in your life to further His cause?