Shame on Me?

Jer 3:3 (NIV) Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame.

In previous studies, we have looked at conviction and condemnation in the way of repentance. Conviction is portrayed in Scripture as the first (welcome) work of the Spirit, and condemnation as the (just) sentence of God on our sinful natures. This much, hopefully, is clear in its practical benefit in our spiritual reflexes to prod us back into Christ when we find ourselves "in the flesh".
Jer 6:15 (NAS) "Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; they did not even know how to blush."

Shame might also have a use in our sanctification, and this might be good to understand. For example, often we flinch at looking so closely at our proclivities to sin because we feel a deep sense of shame... and so turn our eye in order to temporarily ease the pain. The sermon is over, the session is done, and we go away from the mirror and forget what we look like.
Part of the romance of God may be to prepare us to be a "blushing" bride. We certainly have enough to blush over, if we will just let the Spirit search us. But this blushing of shame "the flesh" HATES more than anything! It touches the very nerve of "self" in a most painful way. So why should we, or why must we, endure this awful feeling?

Reactions To God
Luke 5:8 (Wey) When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at the knees of Jesus, and exclaimed, "Master, leave my boat, for I am a sinful man."

Simon Peter's response is part of anyone's reaction to a real encounter with God. By seeing Jesus he was "undone" by the resultant heightened sense of his own depravity; how far He was from the glory of God.

It is one thing to play with words and self deception concerning our state before the Holy One; it is another to come up against His pure goodness. What we thought we wanted now makes us feel dirty. When goodness is laced with badness it is easier to take, easier to relate to. But pure goodness is alien to us. And we know God is powerful, but to experience that power brings our own insufficiency into the light. We tend to recoil from what we also most want. Jesus did not leave Simon Peter for his honest reaction, speaking words of comfort instead and calling him as an apostle. For Peter's will power had come up against a greater will. But Peter's "reaction" remained for a deeper "treatment" at a later date.

Are we greater than Simon Peter? Are we less in need of being saved "in the highest way" than him? Will we not have to be cured of this same problem in the future, even after hearing words of comfort? Even after confessing Christ? Even after walking in intimate fellowship with our Lord?

The Problem Of Self Confidence And Pride
Luke 22:31-34 (Phi) "Oh, Simon, Simon, do you know that Satan has asked to have you all to sift like wheat?--but I have prayed for you that you may not lose your faith. Yes, when you have turned back to me, you must strengthen these brothers of yours." Peter said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go to prison, or even to die with you!" "I tell you, Peter," returned Jesus, "before the cock crows today you will deny three times that you know me!"

Peter was a boaster, being confident in himself. Like us, he was prone to make grand promises to God and then to blow it in actual experience, leading to the ache of shame.

Luke 22:59-62 (Phi) "I am convinced this man was with him..." "Man," replied Peter, "I do not know what you are talking about." And immediately, while he was still speaking, the cock crew. The Lord turned his head and looked straight at Peter, and into his mind flashed the words that the Lord had said to him... "You will disown me..." ...and he [Peter] went outside and wept bitterly.

In this dismal process of humiliation we perhaps can understand at a deeper level how God is going to work out that no flesh will boast in His presence.
Come on, with us? Really?