Wednesday 25 Jul 2018

July 25: John 21:15-19

Key Verse: John 21:17
The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

Devotion:
Have you ever had your intentions or even your love questioned? Why would someone question your intentions when you think they should know you better and should know your intentions? Well, the most common reason is simply because you have done something which has put into question your intentions. Christ had the foreknowledge to know what Peter was going to do and questioned Him whilst He had time with Peter. It is often when we have gone that step too far or have not done what we should have done that we then realise what is wrong. In other words, it is too late before we realise something is wrong!

If we are truly sorry, we will act upon those feelings and bring them to mind each time we do something wrong in the future. If we are truly sorry about our sins against God, then we are going to feel that prick in the heart each time we do sin against Him. Ignoring that tiny prick will lead to another sin and another after that. If we continue to ignore them, not only will we end up having a huge regret for a combination of things but we will ignore those warning signs in the future and get deeper and deeper into trouble! Peter would never have dreamt he would deny Christ once, let alone three times; but we know he did because our bibles tell us. He even confided in the other disciples because it is them who wrote about it. Such was his remorse that he did not want to end his life in the same way as Jesus because he thought himself not worthy enough.

We need to be more vigilant in looking for the signs we send out. If we start to do something and think “well, it won’t hurt to do it just once” we have already gone as far as Peter, and Christ has already had to bring our intentions into question! God knows what is in our hearts, He knows when we are weak and give in, He knows when we make our own excuses…

Points to Ponder:
How often do you do things that are out of character?

Do you force Christ to question your actions?