Do You Love Me More Than These?

The Book of John was written “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31) God loves us so much that He gave us His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins and give us eternal life. That’s what Christmas is all about. The question is: what are we willing to give back to God this Christmas?

John 21:15-22 tells that the disciples spent an entire night catching fish in vain. As dawn was breaking, Jesus instructed them to cast their net on the right side of the boat, and by following what He said, they were able to fill their net with a large number of fish. Even before the disciples reached the shore, Jesus already had fish and bread waiting for them. But Jesus did not just prepare them breakfast; He served them the food as well, despite the fact that one of them, Simon Peter, had denied him three times. Such was the love of Jesus Christ, an agape kind of love—the highest form of love.

This is the truth about God’s love: it is not based on our performance. Jesus didn’t need His disciples’ catch to make breakfast. He had food cooking even before they made it back to shore. God’s love is not based on our accomplishments or the things we can do for Him. The disciples had failed in making any catch but Jesus turned their failure into a blessing. Simon Peter had denied Jesus three times but Jesus still chose to serve him that morning and to entrust His flock to him! God loves us as we are and meets us where we are.

How about us, how much do we love God? Know that the secret of loving Jesus lies not on your love for Him but on His love for you. 1 John 4:19 says, “We love, because He first loved us.” The more you come to know about His love, the more you come to love Him.

In verse 15, Jesus asked Peter for the first time: “Do you love Me more than these?” What is “more than these”? The Bible tells us that the greatest and foremost commandment is ‘To love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind’. (Matthew 22:37-38) Love is comparative. Whatever takes God’s place in your heart is your idol. When Jesus asked, “Do you love me more than these?” Jesus was asking if Peter loved Him above everything else. Do we love God “more than these”? Jesus asked Peter to do something next. He asked Peter to take care of His flock (church). When Peter and the disciples encountered Jesus for the first time in the Sea of Galilee, Jesus had called them to become fishers of men. When Jesus died, they went back to fishing as a living. But God had a different plan for them. In the command to take care of His flock, Jesus was telling Peter, “If you love Me, you will obey Me.”

If we say we love Jesus, we must obey Him and follow Him. 1 John 5:3 says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” What is He asking you to start doing today? What is He asking you to stop doing today?

To love Jesus is to obey Him. Each one of us is individually accountable to the Lord. There’s no need to look at other people. John 21:20-22 tells how Peter, upon seeing that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them, said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” (John 21:21) Jesus answered him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” (John 21:22) As we obey and follow Jesus, we must make it a point to keep our eyes on Him alone. We must love Jesus to the best of our ability, not in comparison with others.

“Do you love Me more than these?” Jesus tells us, “Obey Me. Take care of My flock.” Do we love God more than position, money, prestige and the temporal pleasures of the world? Jesus is asking us to trade up, not to trade down. He is asking us to get involved in something bigger than our lives. We may not realize it, but God has given us our respective flocks, and God wants us to shepherd that flock. All of us have circles of influence. For some, it’s their family; for others, it’s their own company. God is telling us, “Step up and shepherd the flock that I have entrusted to you.”

Had Peter and company become so successful in fishing, had they become so successful in what they used to do, had they not listened to Jesus, had they not stepped up to take care of the flock entrusted to them, had they insisted in their own plans for their lives—we would have never known about Jesus and His gift of eternal life! Praise God they loved Jesus and they chose to obey Him!

As we pore over our lists of gifts to family and friends, let’s take time to consider what gift to give God this Christmas. May we choose to give Him our hearts. As God continues to lavish us with His unconditional love, may we choose to return that love and say, “Yes, Lord, I love You. I will follow You. I will obey You.”