Preserved in Jesus Christ – Day 11

How happy Satan must have been when Simon Peter denied knowing Jesus three times, before rushing out into the night, crying bitterly. (Luke 22:56-62). First, it was Judas Iscariot and now Simon Peter had failed Jesus.

However, no matter how bad we are, Jesus always offers a second chance to those who are truly contrite and come to him for forgiveness.

It happened to Peter when he was at Lake Tiberias in Galilee with Thomas, Nathanael, James, John and two unnamed disciples. Peter decided to go fishing. The other disciples went with him.

They fished the whole night and at sunrise, they saw a man at the water edge. It was Jesus but they did not recognise him. He called out to them, “Have you caught anything?” They replied, “Not a thing.” “Throw your net over the right side!” They did so and the net bulged with so much fish that they could not pull it back in.

John said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” Peter, overjoyed, jumped into the sea and swam to Jesus. The others followed in the boat, dragging the bulging net behind them. When they reached the shore, they all recognised Jesus but were too shy to acknowledge him. He invited them to eat and after they had done so, Jesus spoke to Peter.

Three times, Peter had denied Jesus. Now, Jesus gave him a second chance. Three times, Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Each time, Peter replied that he did.

We should be very clear about what Jesus meant when he asked Peter if he loved him. The Bible puts it so well: “Whoever accepts my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. My Father will love whoever loves me. I too will love him and reveal myself to him.” John 14:21

Do you love me? It is the ultimate question that Jesus asks everyone who talks to him. When he talks to you, what will your answer be? If it is, “Yes, I love and will obey you Lord”, then no matter what sins we may be guilty of, we will get a second chance and a new beginning. Satan will never wrest us from Jesus’ grasp.