John 21:7 "That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to
Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord,
he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself
into the sea."
As I read this passage about Jesus
appearing on the shore while the disciples were fishing, I just felt I got a
glimpse of Jesus' smile and how his heart warmed at Peter's response. As
soon as he heard it was Jesus, Peter grabbed his coat and jumped in the water,
abandoning his boat, nets, friends and awesome catch of fish.
This was the third time the disciples had
seen Jesus since the resurrection. I guess Peter was thinking, "I don't
know how long Jesus will stay with us this time. I don't know if and when I may
see Jesus again. I just want to make the most of every possible moment I can
spend with him."
Peter had been fishing all night without
catching anything so he would have been tired, hungry and cold and yet he
jumped fully clothed into the sea in his effort to be with Jesus as quickly as
possible. His love for Jesus gave him an energy that overcame his tiredness,
made his physical hunger less important than his spiritual hunger and burned in
his heart warmer than the cold the sea could send through him.
Jesus’ heart thrilled to see Peter splashing his way messily
through the water to be with him.
I have a little boy named after this same disciple who tends to
wake early. We have a rule that he has to wait until 7am (“seven –oh-oh”) on
his digital clock before he can come out of his room (apart from toilet trips
of course!). He learnt to read the time quickly and soon grasped that “seven-oh-oh”
came after 6:59am. I can be sure on any given morning that he is counting down
the minutes to “seven-oh-oh”. Because of the various toilet trips and other ‘reasons’
to leave their bedrooms early from our two, I tend to get up and try to read my
Bible sitting on the top stair on the landing so that I’m on the spot to police
any ‘happenings’. I too keep an eye on the time, knowing my minutes of being
alone are numbered. The moment the clock turns to 7:00 the cry goes up “It’s
seven-oh-oh!” and he comes bursting out of his room, running, stumbling, blinking
and into my lap for his morning hug. His
sister is less keen-eyed on the clock and has learnt just to wait for her
brother to announce the time and comes and patiently waits her turn for the
morning hug. If I’ve not got out of bed
before 7:00 then he comes and climbs on top of me, as the first essential act
of every day is a hug with mummy.
It struck me that my little Peter is a bit like Simon Peter. He
wants to be with the one he loves – and the moment he can, he comes running.
In comparison, oh how reluctant I am to get out of bed to go
running to Jesus’ arms. And yet he loves me more perfectly and passionately
than I do my little boy. If only I could grasp the greatness of his love for me
and the amazing privilege of being able to spend time with Jesus any time I
want.
Jesus please forgive the feebleness of my love for you. I want to
be like Peter, running to you whenever I can just to be with you. Please give
me a greater revelation of your amazing love for me and set my heart on fire
with love for you. Amen
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