From the Manse
Dear Friends,
Who among us hasn’t wished we could turn the clock back and have a time over again when we could undo some thoughtless or angry word, some unwise judgement or some careless mistake? If only we could have a second chance and an opportunity to put right the past!
If this resonates with you, as it does with me, then we will be able to empathise with Peter. He must have felt helpless and hopeless as he remembered how he had denied Jesus not once, not twice, but three times. The memory must have haunted him and been an almost impossible burden to carry.
What wouldn’t he have given to undo those moments? But he couldn’t or could he?
In John’s Gospel we are told that following his resurrection from the dead, Jesus appeared to the disciples on several occasions. On one of them he cooked them some breakfast after which he asked Peter not once, not twice, but three times: “Do you love me?”
It took a while for the message to sink in but finally, for Peter, the truth dawned. For each time he had denied him, Jesus was offering the opportunity to make amends, to put the past behind him, and start again.
Alas, we cannot put the clock back as such, and sometimes, in regard to others, we have to live with the consequences of our mistakes, but we have the assurance that with God there is always the opportunity to begin again, and to move forward from what has been towards what shall be. We need only acknowledge our faults and failings before God, and then, like Peter, restored and forgiven, and with the slate wiped clean, we can start afresh!
I send you my warmest good wishes,
Your friend and minister,
Gary