1月1日
标 题：决心
经 节：他们吃完了早饭，耶稣对西门彼得说︰“约翰的儿子西门，你爱我比这些更深吗？”（约翰福音廿一章15节）
当我们使耶稣失望时，祂挽回我们的方式真是奇妙！祂既不羞辱我们，也不批判我们，更没要求我们要下定决心更努力点。相反地，祂把我们拉到一旁，要我们再次肯定自己对祂的爱。
当彼得与其他门徒狼狈逃离客西马尼园时，他离弃了他的主。稍后，他在公众面前否认自己认识耶稣。彼得一定曾怀疑过，自己在最紧要关头离弃耶稣之后，是否仍配作耶稣的门徒。
当你迎接新的一年到来的同时，也许正为自己曾有许多行为举止令主失望而苦恼。也许你曾对主不忠诚，也许你曾违背祂的话语，也许你的生活方式否认了主。诚如当初祂对待彼得一样，祂会把你拉到一旁，既不会严厉指责你，也不会羞辱你。祂会要求你仔细审查你对祂的爱。祂问彼得：“你爱我吗？”如果你像彼得一样回答：“主啊！是的。”祂会再次肯定祂在你身上的旨意。如果你真爱祂，就必遵守祂的命令（约翰福音十四：15）。耶稣不需要你改邪归正的决心，也不需要你再度献身，更不要你承诺今年会更努力点。假如你去年定意顺服神的决心并没能帮助你更忠诚，这份决心在今年也不能使你成功地达到目的。耶稣所要的是你的爱。如果你真心爱祂，你在这新的一年对祂的事奉将会合乎祂的心意。
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.
