Do You Love Me?

“A third time Jesus asked him, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’ Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him a third time if he loved Him. He said, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed My sheep’” (John 21:17). 

Why did Jesus ask three times? It wasn’t because He didn’t know, but that He wanted Peter to realize that where there is a deep love for God, there will be service unto Him. Notice that Jesus didn’t ask, “Do you love the people,” or, “Do you love ministry?” Because love of anything else, but God, won’t last… the gas tank will run dry.  People disappoint and service can be draining, but “The mercies of the Lord are new every morning. And great is Thy faithfulness.” 

How can we best live out our love for God? It starts with ourselves living lives of obedience and surrender to the will of God. Genuine love will compel us to share His message of Salvation to those He brings into our life. And for those that already know Him? Encourage them as they journey Home; they are weary. Feed them words of Life and remind them that eternity awaits them in all its glory. 

Love isn’t a dead-end road, as if we have arrived. It’s action. We wouldn’t believe a stagnant friendship is real, or a silent marriage, or one that professes Christ but never reads His Word or prays to Him. Love is the opposite… it’s like the fresh spring that gushes out of the mountainside bringing life wherever it flows. 

May we love the Lord in such a real way, that everyone knows it.

(Devotional by Cheryl Hall-Laos)