A bold white line on the right side of my lane and a bright yellow
line on the other side. Orange cones warning me about fresh
paint. I was driving down a freshly striped road. Great. Now
I have to really focus and make sure I donāt veer out of my lane. I
felt a little nervous. If I veered just a little bit, wellā¦Iād be creating a
disaster.
If you have ever driven over fresh road striping paint, or seen a
car that has, you know it really ruins a carās paint job. Please
let me stay within the lines. That was my prayer.
Isnāt that how we sometimes try to live our
lives? Staying within the lines so we can have proof that we are
doing it right? I go outside the lines so many times. It
is easy to do and I donāt even recognize it at times because I just go about my
merry way. Yet, I veer off in seemingly simple ways. By
comparing myself to others, by putting myself down, through my attitude toward
others, my words, my actionsā¦shall I go on?
I thought about Peter and how he went outside the lines.
Before Jesus was crucified, Peter denied who he was three times. How
outside the lines was that? Yet Jesus offered Peter a way to be
restored. In John 21 we read how Jesus interacted with
Peter with three questions, entering the mess Peter was in and replacing it
with grace.
Jesus does the same for us. The lines of life can be
difficult to maneuver, and it is easy to cross the lines. Yet if we
turn our thoughts to Christ, when we do veer off and make a mess, he meets us
there. He meets us in the mess with his grace and mercy, ready to restore
us.
Lord, help me when I make of mess of it and veer off into my own
desires. Rescue me and restore me and bring me to a place of love,
where I can find rest in your arms.
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The road I was on... |
The story of Peter and Jesus. John 21
Later, Jesus appeared
again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee.[a] This
is how it happened. 2 Several
of the disciples were thereāSimon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin),[b] Nathanael
from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.
3 Simon Peter said, āIām
going fishing.ā
āWeāll come, too,ā they all said. So they
went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
4 At dawn Jesus was standing
on the beach, but the disciples couldnāt see who he was. 5 He called
out, āFellows,[c] have
you caught any fish?ā
āNo,ā they replied.
6 Then he said, āThrow out
your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and youāll get some!ā So
they did, and they couldnāt haul in the net because there were so many fish in
it.
7 Then the disciple Jesus
loved said to Peter, āItās the Lord!ā When Simon Peter heard that it was the
Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the
water, and headed to shore. 8 The
others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they
were only about a hundred yards[d] from
shore. 9 When they
got there, they found breakfast waiting for themāfish cooking over a charcoal
fire, and some bread.
10 āBring
some of the fish youāve just caught,ā Jesus said. 11 So Simon
Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish,
and yet the net hadnāt torn.
12 āNow come
and have some breakfast!ā Jesus said. None of
the disciples dared to ask him, āWho are you?ā They knew it was the Lord.13 Then
Jesus served them the bread and the fish. 14 This was
the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised
from the dead.
15 After breakfast Jesus
asked Simon Peter, āSimon son
of John, do you love me more than these?[e]ā
āYes, Lord,ā Peter replied, āyou know I love
you.ā
āThen feed my lambs,ā Jesus
told him.
16 Jesus repeated the
question: āSimon son
of John, do you love me?ā
āYes, Lord,ā Peter said, āyou know I love
you.ā
āThen take care of my sheep,ā Jesus
said.
17 A third time he asked him, āSimon son
of John, do you love me?ā
Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question
a third time. He said, āLord, you know everything. You know that I love you.ā
Jesus said, āThen feed my sheep.
18 āI tell
you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you
dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you
will stretch out your hands, and others[f] will
dress you and take you where you donāt want to go.ā 19 Jesus
said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then
Jesus told him, āFollow
me.ā
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