April 16

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love Me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love You.” — John 21:16

We are striving to follow Christ–but we are weak. We intend to be loving–but we mar our days with unhappy tempers and selfish strivings. We intend to be strong in faith–but many times our trust fails us. We bow our heads to take the Master’s blessing, “Peace be unto you;” but again and again–the peace is broken. We intend to show the world a pattern of Christlikeness, but the temptations about us are so sore, that every day we are conscious of having failed to be true. We set out in the morning brave and confident; but alas! how often does the evening find us defeated!

What shall we do? There stands the Master, patient, unwearied in His love, asking, “Do you truly love Me?” Dare we say, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love You.” If He were but a man like ourselves, we could not; for our failures would seem to disprove our word, and He could not read the love in our secret heart, under all our inconsistency. But He knows all the truth about us. He knows we are sincere and loyal in heart, though so unworthy. He sees the love–amid the broken vows and the failures. Therefore, we can look up out of our deep humiliation, and say with inexpressible comfort, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love You!”