Thought for the Week
"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?,,,,,(John 21:15-17)
In this passage, Peter is asked three times if he loves Jesus. Each time Peter answers, Yes, you know I love you. I am convinced that this question, "Lovest thou me", is one that each of us should think about seriously as to the answer we will give. I feel pretty confident that like Peter, all of us will answer, "Yes Lord, I love you". Let's think about that for a moment.
The love we have for Jesus cannot be just a shallow, emotional love born out of some kind of hollow profession. It must be a love that is active in a complete obedience to the will of God (Acts 5:29; 2 John 9). It must be a love that gives full surrender to Jesus (John 14:15; Heb.5:8-9), It must be a love that seeks to obey the truth (Gal. 5:7; 2 Thess. 1:7-9). Truly loving the Lord, we will give to him our best. The best of our love (Mark 12:31; 1 John 5:1-3); the best of our gifts, namely time, talents, money (Rom. 12:1-2; 2 Cor. 8:1-5; 2 Cor. 6-8; Matt. 6:19-21); the best of our labors (Luke 10:7; 1 Cor. 15:58).
We must be careful that the Lord does not just get the crumbs, the leftovers of our life. Many spend their days using their time, talents and money in pursuit of that which is only temporal such as fame, fortune, popularity or success in this life. Money is used to acquire things or to satisfy the craving for amusements and recreation. Then once, maybe twice a week come into an assembly to worship God and say, "Lord this is all I have left of my life this week, its yours". Make no mistake, God requires of each of us the best we have, not what is left over.
"Lovest thou me?" What a profound question for our consideration. I wonder, what answer will we give?
Charles Hicks
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