Do You?

John 21:¹⁷ “A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.”

The first fish burger ever made was made by Jesus. If you check, Jesus hardly calls Peter by his full name with his surname. In fact, Jesus gave him a nickname. So, when you have someone like Jesus, someone in authority, call you by your full name. The image I have is of when I was growing up, and I have done something naughty. And my grandmother would not call me Femi or Olufemi at such times. She would say ‘Oluwagbeminija!’, that is the name she gave me herself. When she calls me Oluwagbeminija, I know that thunder is about to strike.

Jesus’ asking three times, hurting Peter’s feelings, was ultimately for Peter’s good. And it is because Jesus is more concerned about our lasting healing than He is about our short-term feelings. Most times we are too consumed with how we feel, but God is focused on our healing. And the good news is while we cannot change the past, God can change our future. While you cannot change your past, God will change your future in the Mighty Name of Jesus. So how do you let go of your past? Two things from this story?

The first is Close The Door To Your Past. You need to close the door to your past both the painful past and the glorious past. ‘Ah! When boys were boys! When men made millions!’ You need to close that door and make fresh millions. Do I get an Amen? And you will make millions in Dollars, Pounds, and in Euros. But you need to close the door and there is no better time than today. No better time than a decade of destiny. By closing the door what you are doing is accepting that God’s grace is bigger than your past. Close the door and take the new territories that God has for you. You cannot enter the newness if you do not shut the door to the past.

John 21:¹⁵ “After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”…” (emphasis added). What has happened here? Peter had gone back to fishing. Peter probably said, ‘If this ministry thing does not work… We thought that this Jesus was going to be an action man, but now He is dead. Let us go fishing.’ I know this feeling, over a decade ago I was going to leave ministry to do my PhD. I said ministry people are wicked, people are mean, people showed me pepper. I will have nothing to do with people again. So, I was going to start a Ph.D. And what God said to me in summary was, feed my lambs. So, I had to decide what it was going to be. Like I say to people, be where God wants you to be and do what God wants you to do.

Prayer: Father, I ask for the grace, strength, and courage to close the door to my past, to be where You want me to be, doing what You want me to do, in Jesus Name. Amen!