(John 21:17) He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
(John 21:18)Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
(John 21:19b)...And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. (KJV)
On the beach, over a piece of grilled fish, Jesus grilled Peter with one question over and over, “Peter, do you love me?”
With every, “Yes, Lord”, Jesus pushed further. Feed my lambs. Feed my Sheep. Feed my sheep. Follow me, even where you wont want to go.
It’s easy to follow where I want to go, no love required for that. I love my independence but need to love Jesus more than that independence.
It is not too late to give the right answer!
Peter gave the right answer, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you!”, and with God's help he followed through; with God's help so shall I.
An interesting aside, Jesus did not say to go where he would send, but follow where he would lead. Being sent puts me in front but following his lead puts him in front, the closer the better.
- Fritz
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