Meditate On
In Him we have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.Ephesians 1:7
Jesus
Forgives And Restores!
Peter’s restoration by Jesus is one of the
most touching scenes in the New Testament. The Lord not only forgave Peter, who
had denied Him not once but three times to save his own skin, but also restored
him and entrusted the care of the then-infant church to him.
When Jesus rose from the grave, He
instructed the angel at the tomb to tell Mary to “go, tell His disciples—and
Peter” (Mark 16:7). Peter was specially mentioned because Jesus knew that after
such a heart-breaking mistake, the disciple was probably filled with guilt and
sorrow.
Peter, on the other hand, thought that with
his betrayal and Jesus’ death, everything was probably over for him. So he went
back to his old job. And that’s where Jesus found him, fishing on the Lake of
Galilee.
The Bible tells us that Jesus gave Peter and the fishermen with him an
abundant catch, and also made them breakfast on a fire of coals (John 21:1–18).
The scene of men sitting around a fire to keep warm in the early morning must
have painfully reminded Peter of what he had done just a few days earlier (John
18:17–18, 25–26). What was the Lord doing? He was showing Peter that He didn’t
hold that sin against him, and that Peter didn’t have to be afraid of that
memory anymore!
What a compassionate Savior we have! He
knows all about your failures, but doesn’t hold them against you because He has
completely and righteously forgiven you through His death on the cross. Like
Peter, let the Lord’s forgiveness and love for you restore you to wholeness and
propel you into your God-given destiny!
BLESSINGS
JOSEPH PRINCE
