Simon Peter was an ordinary fisherman in Galilee in the first century AD. He would have been born just a stone’s throw away from the Sea of Galilee and under normal circumstances, he would have spent the rest of his days there as a fisherman. It would have been a hard life, being exposed to the whims of the weather. There would have been times of abundance when the catch was good and the fish prices were high. And there would have been trying times when they caught nothing. This was the life he had known and he did not expect any other life. He would grow old near the water and the boats, and he would die there and be buried nearby. But on a sunny day, the Son of God crossed his path.

 

He sensed immediately that there was something different in Jesus; he was unlike any other spiritual leader that Peter had met before. We read that Jesus came to meet him specifically. In John 1:42, we read: “Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas’ (which, when translated, is Peter)."

 

Jesus had known Peter long before his brother Andrew came to introduce them. Andrew was excited; he had met the Messiah! The Messiah, the anointed of God who would free his people, was expected since the days of the exile. When Peter meets Jesus, we see that God was at work long before that moment. The Lord has chosen Peter, and went out of his way to see Peter, and call him: “Follow me!” Peter would discover that his faith was a precious gift of God. It was not something he worked hard for or earned in any way. He did not have to complete a certain number of good deeds before Jesus reached out to him. Peter also met the Messiah that day on the banks of the Sea of Galilea. He came to faith in Christ that day. And it changed the course of his life.

 

Many years later, he would write a letter. I do not think he could have ever imagined how far that letter would travel and be read by all generations of Christians. But as a spiritual father who has walked a long path of faith with Christ, he is also writing to you and me. We were invited, by the righteousness of Christ, to become part of God’s family. Before we could ever choose to follow him, Christ had chosen us. There came a day when we met him for the first time; he called us and we put our trust in him. Peter reminds us in today’s verse that our faith is a precious gift of God. It bears witness to the foundation on which we build our lives. Jesus knows us before we discover him. Paul would also rejoice in this with the words of Ephesians 1:4-6: “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.”

 

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for knowing me, long before I came to know you. Thank you that I could find the Messiah and get to know you as my Saviour. Thank you for the gift of my faith – it is more precious than gold to me. Amen.