Restorations are amazing. Have you ever seen a rusted-out vehicle restored to mint condition? How about a dilapidated building fully restored? How about the restoration of a relationship? That last one may be the most amazing restoration of all.
We are sinners by nature and by choice. By the grace of God, when we put our trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord we are forgiven of our sin. Yet even as followers of Jesus, there are times we mess up big time. We let the Lord down. Maybe it’s something we say or don’t say, something we do or don’t do, somewhere we go or don’t go.
The apostle Simon Peter knew what it meant to let Jesus down. On the night Jesus was arrested, Peter denied him three times. Jesus predicted it would happen, and when it did happen, grief and shame overcame Peter. A few hours after the denial, Jesus died on the cross. Peter wondered if he would ever see Jesus again.
Miraculously on the third day, Jesus arose! And he appeared to Peter and the disciples on multiple occasions in the days and weeks after that. On one such occasion beside the Sea of Galilee, Jesus pulled Peter aside for a one-on-one conversation.
Jesus asked Peter a question three times, “Do you love me?” Peter replied three times, “Yes Lord, I love you,” and then Jesus instructed him to feed and take care of his sheep, the followers of Jesus.
A three-fold denial on the night of Jesus’s arrest. A three-fold restoration by Jesus. Jesus could have simply said, “You’re forgiven” once and the relationship would have been reconciled and restored, but Jesus took it a step farther by asking Peter the question three times. Perhaps Jesus knew that Peter needed to say it out loud three times so that Peter would understand he was fully restored.
What is it that God is speaking to you about? Is there any sin in your life that you need to confess to him? If so, confess it to him, declare your love for him, and receive the full restoration that comes from your forgiving, loving Savior.
Jesus goes above and beyond to restore you when you have disappointed him.
And then, as Jesus said to Peter, “Follow me.”
Follow Jesus. Follow him wherever he leads you, saying the things he wants you to say and doing the things he wants you to do. Let your heart be filled with love toward him and toward others. And like Peter, lead others to follow Jesus, the Great Shepherd.
John 21:15-19
15 When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.”
“Feed my lambs,” he told him.
16 A second time he asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.”
“Shepherd my sheep,” he told him.
17 He asked him the third time,“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
18 “Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.” 19 He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. After saying this, he told him, “Follow me.”