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
