1月1日

標 題：決心

經 節：他們吃完了早飯，耶穌對西門彼得說︰「約翰的兒子西門，你愛我比這些更深嗎？」（約翰福音廿一章15節）

當我們使耶穌失望時，祂挽回我們的方式真是奇妙！祂既不羞辱我們，也不批判我們，更沒要求我們要下定決心更努力點。相反地，祂把我們拉到一旁，要我們再次肯定自己對祂的愛。

當彼得與其他門徒狼狽逃離客西馬尼園時，他離棄了他的主。稍後，他在公眾面前否認自己認識耶穌。彼得一定曾懷疑過，自己在最緊要關頭離棄耶穌之後，是否仍配作耶穌的門徒。

當你迎接新的一年到來的同時，也許正為自己曾有許多行為舉止令主失望而苦惱。也許你曾對主不忠誠，也許你曾違背祂的話語，也許你的生活方式否認了主。誠如當初祂對待彼得一樣，祂會把你拉到一旁，既不會嚴厲指責你，也不會羞辱你。祂會要求你仔細審查你對祂的愛。祂問彼得：「你愛我嗎？」如果你像彼得一樣回答：「主啊！是的。」祂會再次肯定祂在你身上的旨意。如果你真愛祂，就必遵守祂的命令（約翰福音十四：15）。耶穌不需要你改邪歸正的決心，也不需要你再度獻身，更不要你承諾今年會更努力點。假如你去年定意順服神的決心並沒能幫助你更忠誠，這份決心在今年也不能使你成功地達到目的。耶穌所要的是你的愛。如果你真心愛祂，你在這新的一年對祂的事奉將會合乎祂的心意。

Resolutions

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?" (John 21:15)

Jesus has a wonderful way of restoring us when we fail Him! He does not humiliate us. He does not criticize us. He does not ask us to make a resolution to try harder. Rather, He takes us aside and asks us to reaffirm our love for Him.

Peter miserably failed his Lord when he fled with the other disciples from the Garden of Gethsemane. Later, he publicly denied that he even knew Jesus. Peter must have wondered if he had been capable of being Jesus’ disciple when he was unfaithful to Jesus in His most crucial hour.

As you begin a new year, you may be painfully aware that you have failed your Lord in many ways. Perhaps you were not faithful. Perhaps you disobeyed His word to you. Perhaps you denied Him by the way you lived. Jesus will take you aside, as He did Peter. He will not berate you. He will not humiliate you. He will ask you to examine your love for Him. He asked Peter, “Do you love Me?” If your answer, like Peter’s, is “Yes, Lord,” He will reaffirm His will for you. If you truly love Him, you will obey Him (John 14:15). Jesus does not need your resolutions, your recommitments, or your promises to try harder this year. If your resolve to obey God last year did not help you to be faithful, it will not make you successful this year. Jesus asks for your love. If you truly love Him, your service for Him in the new year will be of the quality that He desires.