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"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these" John 21:15

“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these” John 21:15

God never gives up on His people who fail! Because of His great compassion and grace, He seeks to restore, renew and revive. Even after Jesus resurrected from the dead, before He ascended in Heaven, He appeared to many of His disciples… including Peter. Peter was in a hard place… he abandoned Jesus, denied Him three times, and could not even pray with Him one hour. Imagine the guilt and shame he felt. So he and some of the other disciples went fishing… went back to what they knew… went back to old ways!

So here comes the resurrected Christ and He speaks to Peter but notice, He does not call Him Peter, but calls him Simon. This was his old name before Jesus changed his name to Peter. Peter was the name Jesus gave him when he made his declaration of faith, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”! (Matthew 16:16-18)

By calling Peter “Simon”, Jesus was questioning Peter as to where he stood. Because of discouragement and failure, Peter was going backward and not forward. He was allowing his past to be his future. He chose the darkness of guilt and shame over the light of newness of life in Jesus Christ. Jesus wanted Peter to face his past but not go back to it. He had to put his past in the tomb and leave it there. He had to leave “Simon” in the tomb and allow “Peter” to walk out of the tomb into the hope of a risen Savior!

Today, what do you have to leave in the tomb? Today, are you the “Simon” of your past or the “Peter” of new life in Christ? Let the newness of life and hope of the resurrection fill you today and everyday!