15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to Him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” ~ John 21:15-17
Three times, Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him. At the third time, Peter’s heart broke because of the question. I want you to remember that just three days prior, Peter had denied even knowing Jesus. And at that third time, Jesus looked directly at Peter. Jesus is now giving Peter the chance to make things right, but it wasn’t enough for Peter to have just said that he loved Jesus. Jesus gave him three things to do to prove that he loved Him. Today, we’re in the same boat as Peter.
We’ve just fallen down. We’ve relapsed. We gave into temptation again. We took a bite of that forbidden fruit. Now, Christ is holding out His hand, asking, ‘Do you love me?’ Of course, we tell Him yes. Of course, we believe that we do as well, but just as Peter had things to do in order to prove his love for Christ, so do we. We have to follow His commands. Yes, we will make mistakes. Yes, we will fall down. Yes, we will give into temptation, but we have to get on our knees, beg for forgiveness, and walk away from our failure. We have to walk away from where we’ve just messed up. It’s not enough to just say that we love Jesus; we have to live for Him. Our actions have to say that we love Jesus as well as our words.
Dear LORD, please help my actions to say that I love You. Help me to never offer You empty words that have no meaning. Help me to always live my life for You. Help me to always put Your ways and Your kingdom first above all else. Teach me to truly follow You and love You the way that You deserve. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.
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