Levels

John 21:¹⁶“Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.” (emphasis added)

Again, I pray that out of the place of sincerity and honesty and out of the place of accuracy, you will be able to stand before the Lord and say to the Lord, “You know that I love you.” And your heart will bear you witness that you have spoken the truth. “…Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.” (emphasis added). Then here means if you love me, then you do this. Then is what happens after a conditional statement is true. A conditional statement is something like this: if A is greater than B then carry out these instructions. Jesus was saying, “If it is true that you love Me then take care of My sheep.

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.” (emphasis added). You know everything, in other words, “Lord, You can tell if I am lying to You. This is my heart before You. I have never lied to You or been dishonest with You. I am sincere, and beyond that, You know if I am lying. You can pick it out because you know the thoughts of all men. Tell me if I am lying, Lord.” Do you know what Jesus said? It doesn’t matter if you are lying or not, I am not here to prove whether you are lying or not. “…Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.” (emphasis added). Jesus was restoring his purpose. What Jesus was saying to Peter is, “This is the purpose of your existence.”

John 21:^18-19 “I 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 will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go. Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.” (emphasis added). Here is what is playing out here. At elementary level of your walk with God, your love for Jesus equals your following Jesus and equals your devotion to Jesus. Your devotion in worship and in spending time with Him, that is where we all came in through.

While it is still the same phrase, follow me, but at this level, follow me means love me and express that love by worshiping me and in your devotion to me. So, to say that you just want to stay with God and worship Him is fantastic. We should never outgrow that, but that is level one. On level two, follow me, which means “love me” means obey me.

Prayer: Father, beyond my worship, devotion, and obedience, I want to be able to say, “You know I love You” and my heart will bear me witness, in Jesus Name. Amen!