Who or What do you love Most?

"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" (John 21:15)

It is after the Resurrection, and fresh in Peter's memory was the night of his denial of his Lord. But now it is time for restoration and renewal. Jesus and Peter walking alone delve into the most significant of all question. "Simon, I need to know, what is most important in your life? Where is your heart? Are you devoted to me with all of your being? Do you love me more than anyone or anything else?"

This first place love for Jesus is so important than in Rev. 3 we discover that Jesus warns the church at Ephesus if they do not return to their first love, He will remove their lampstand, which is a symbolic way of saying they will cease to be a church. So many people today have a place in their life for Jesus, but it is not the place of pre-eminence. He is resident in them, but He is not allowed to rule as Lord.

Sometimes we are so busy serving God and ministering in the name of Jesus that we forget that the most important matter is this, "Do you love me more than these?" And like Simon Peter, when Jesus presses that issue, we are grieve to be so exposed. "Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?'" (Jo. 21:17)

Where are the Aarons and Hurs?

"Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he wsat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword." (Exodus 17:11-13)

Joshua and the army of Israel were fighting against the Amaleks. Throughout the day they fought the same. The variable in this story is the position of Moses' arms, which represent prayer. When Moses was faithful to stand in the gap in prayer, the Israelites prevailed. When he grew weary and did not, they were being defeated. Aaron and Hur undergird him. They support him. They pray with him.

Prayer is not something we do when we cannot do something else. It is the most important aspect of our work for God. When Jesus said to the disciples in John 14 that He was returning to the Father, He promised them they could do even greater works than He did. But how? He said through prayer. So where are the faithful prayer warriors?