Chambers' text found here in the original English, and here in the modern English.

The Scripture passage for today is John 21:17:  The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."

     Same verse as yesterday; and after reading OW, I'm glad it is…

     The first time I ever read this encounter between Jesus and Peter, I was so impressed with Jesus.  Here He was, the third time, asking Peter if he loved Him; using the same number of queries as Peter's earlier denials.  Because it's one of my favorite passages, I've read it many times since, but only today did I learn another deep truth from the passage, and that because it was pointed out by OW.  Not only was Jesus making certain Peter knew Jesus was forgiving him for everything, including the denials, but now Peter also knew with absolute certainty that he loved Jesus.  That knowledge meant he would never again fail his Savior as he had done the weeks prior.

    In our deepest moments of honesty, each of us also wonders how much we love Jesus.  Do we love Him because we're afraid not to?  While it's better than rejecting Him; its' hardly the kind of love a relationship can be built on.  Do we love Him because of what He does for us; or is doing for us?  Again, it's better than rejecting Him, but when the storms hit, they shake our confidence in Him.  Only when our faith is tested by God Himself, and we answer that test in the affirmative, do we come away with a boldness that means we'll never again have to be asked by God if we love Him…because God doesn't ask for His benefit (He already knows the answer!); He asks so we can know it ourselves. 

     Still wondering? Ask God to make it clear, but be sure you mean it when you do, because this kind of question is soul-searching and soul-searing.

 So-Whats for Work:  So long as we wonder about our love for God, even the things we do at work will be tentative and sporadically useful in our roles as stewards of Creation.  The workplace lacks the redemptive influence of Jesus Christ because of the timidity of the love of His followers.

So-Whats for Home:   Once we learn to be certain of our love for Jesus, the floodgates of love's deepest meanings become available not only to us, but to our families as well.

CuriousChristian's Favorite Finds for the Day  

• If you haven't been following the guy driving around the globe, I invite you to start.  He's in Peru right now, in the vicinity of Macchu Piccu, and his pictures alone are worth visiting his diary.  Watch for him in your country!
• Over at LettersofNote, they post scans of real letters from the famous, like the ones up today from Harry Truman to his sister on the day he learned he was President, and J.D. Salinger's review of Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Don't go over there if you're supposed to be working, because this site's addictive! 

Got a weblink, picture, article, video, website, project or idea we should share? Send it to us at CuriousChristian@madetomatter.org for consideration! We'll add the best to the bottom of our blogs from time to time.