Greatness

The Bible is full of people who were great and did great things and people of great faith. Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Samuel, King David and many others, were all people who were men, and in some cases women, who had great faith or did great things.

David was a man after God's own heart. He always sought after God, even though he made many mistakes along the way. There were many more men, and even women, like Ruth, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, who found favor in God's eyes that a person living today would want to be like.

There is one person that stands out to me right now more than any of the others, and his name was Peter.

The reason I pick Simon Peter over all of the others is because of how he conducted himself when he realized that it was Jesus who had told them to throw their net over the right side of the boat if they wanted to catch some fish. After reading John 21:1-17 recently as part of my daily email devotional, I realized some things. Number one: how much faith Peter had in Jesus, and number 2: how much love he had for Jesus. Peter was so excited to see Jesus that he jumped out of the boat and swam ashore just to get to Jesus. He didn't wait and he didn't hesitate; he tied his robe around his waist and he jumped.

After they had breakfast, Jesus had some questions for Peter:

He said, "Simon Peter, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."

Jesus asked him this question 3 times. Each time Jesus said either feed my lambs or take care of my sheep.

Each time Peter said, "yes Lord you know that I love you." But, the last time it said that Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time.

Peter finally said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."

He loved Jesus so much that he answered a third time, to which Jesus said a third time, "Feed my sheep..." Peter didn't realize he was being prepared for ministry.

Jesus was saying to Peter, "Yes, you made a mistake, yes, you denied me, but I forgive, and I want you to get up and feed my sheep. Show me how much you love me by feeding my sheep."

I want to love the Lord as much as Peter proved to love Him. I want to be so excited about spending time with Him that I can't wait to get there. I want to be jumping into the water and swimming ashore just to get to Him faster. God is the ultimate gentleman. He is not going to force us as Christians to spend time with Him. He doesn't want it to be a chore for us. If it's a chore for us to spend time with Him, then what does that say about how much we really love Him?

Think of Him as your best friend; a person naturally wants to spend time with their best friend. It's how we get to know them. It's how we get closer to them. This is what God wants us to do with Him. He loved us so much that He sent His son to die on the Cross for us, and Jesus loved us so much that he became our sacrifice for sin. Why should it be a chore to spend time with Him? He deserves our time.

Make Jesus your best friend. He will bless you more than you could ever imagine. (Trust me, I know this to be true from experience.) That is exactly what Peter did. Peter loved Him more than everything and everyone else. It said so in the scripture. Read verses 15 through 17 of John 21 and tell me that isn't true. You wont be able to, because it's right there in black, red, and white, with Jesus' words being written in red.

He's waiting for you. I'm going to start running to Him, so that we can spend time together. He wont force Himself on you. You need to take the first step. You need to make the effort, and He will meet you where you are.

"Come to me those who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest."