Peter, Peter, Peter… where do we start?
 
It’s so easy to look at Peter and see a failure… someone who messed up.  I mean surely after Judas (who betrayed Jesus), he was the one who made the next big mistake; he was the next to let Jesus down in a big way!  But when you look at the character of Peter, a little closer, there is so much more to be seen and learned from every victory and every disastrous mistake he made.
 
Okay… so you might already know, or maybe you don’t. But Peter was the one who denied Jesus three times, after promising Jesus that no matter what, he would never deny him!  If you want to read the full story you can find it in Mark 14:66-73.  This is the story we all know of Peter, the one that often seems to me to be most associated with his life.
 
But there were many of other times in the Gospels and after that Peter is mentioned and talked about, he was one of Jesus disciples after all, and we are really missing out when we define Peter simply by his denials.
 
For starters there are countless other times when Peter messed up… it’s safe to say that ‘second chances’ is an understatement for Peter, there was definitely third and fourth chances!  We might define Peter by his failures, but Jesus didn’t.
 
How did Jesus define him then… well first, Jesus could have defined him as the first to step out of the boat.  In Matthew 14:22-33 you can read about Jesus walking on water, and of all the disciples that were in the boat that day, Peter was the only one who trusted Jesus enough to step out.  In Matthew 16:17-19, Jesus also refers to Peter as a “rock” on which he would build his Church – that’s a grand title for someone who needs countless chances after messing up so much!
 
Jesus did not define Peter by his mistakes and shortcomings, he sees something more in Peter, something greater; he saw potential, and someone who could do great things.  He saw all of this in Peter even when Peter couldn’t see it himself.
 
Now I must admit, Peter is one of my favourite Bible characters, and do you want to know why?
 
He’s my favourite because he’s one of the most relatable!  I’m so glad that he’s included in Scripture because it’s comforting to know that someone, as great as Peter, could also slip up from time to time.
 
He reminds me of myself!  There are so many times I mess up and get things wrong.  I’ll jump to conclusions, I’ll make promises I can’t keep, I stumble, and I fail constantly.  But do you want to know the great thing about it?
 
Just like Jesus doesn’t define Peter by his failures, He doesn’t define me by mine either, and you guessed it… He doesn’t define you by yours either!
 
Jesus gives us chance after chance, and he always will, we are human, we are going to get it wrong, we are going to mess up, but we know one who loves us despite all of that.  Jesus chooses to see the potential in us, He chooses to see the great things we can do for Him. I find that so amazing and such a relief to be honest!
 
In John 21, we see one of the last encounters Jesus has with His disciples before returning to His Father in Heaven. Jesus has risen from the dead and this was the third and final time He appeared to His disciples.  I encourage you to go and read the chapter, it’s not that long but it starts with Peter telling some of the other disciples that he was going fishing. Now this doesn’t seem like a big deal, but Jesus had not so long ago risen from the dead and commissioned them all to go out to the ends of the earth making His name known, and Peter was choosing to go back to being a fisherman.
 
Jesus appears and they end up catching some fish and eating together around a campfire (sounds nice, I’d love to sit around a campfire with Jesus… maybe someday). Now there are significant things to note about everything leading up to this, but you can look that up in your own time.  But they were sitting around the campfire and Jesus began speaking to Peter.  Long story short, he asks Peter three times if he loves Him, and Peter of course tells him, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you”.  Now, if you remember back to before, how many times did Peter deny Jesus?  Three times, and how many times did Jesus ask him if he loved Him this time?  Three!  I don’t think that was an accident.
 
He was redeeming Peter from the mistakes he had made and reminding him of the amazing life that he was called to live and the amazing influence that he was called to be.  He was reinstating him as a servant of the Lord, as a disciple who was to go out into all the world and make Jesus’ name known.  Jesus knew that Peter was made to be more than just a fisherman (nothing against fishermen of course, that’s just not what the Lord had in mind for him).  And it’s the same for you and me!
 
Jesus wants to remind us daily that He has more for us, He is always calling us into more despite all our failures.
 
So I want to encourage you today to remember that Jesus sees through the mistakes you’ve made, He sees through the struggles you have, He sees a girl with unending potential, and He wants to use that potential in you to bring glory to His name… will you let Him use you?