READ: LUKE 22:52-62; JOHN 21:15-19

The man sitting across the table from me makes me uneasy. His failures bear resemblance to mine. Yet, even with his failures, he has been with Jesus. Jesus loved this man.

I eye him suspiciously, wondering if he’s lying about knowing Jesus and being chosen by Him.

“How can I know you’re telling the truth?” I blurt out before I can stop myself. I feel my face flush but continue speaking anyway: “Why would Jesus want you after the way you failed and betrayed Him?”

I wince at my judgmental tone, but Peter smiles, neither surprised nor put off by my blunt questions. “I don’t know,” he says, “Jesus certainly shouldn’t have chosen me.”

I’m struck by the calmness with which this man states that God shouldn’t have chosen him. Where is Peter’s confidence in his abilities? Where is his refutation of my claim that Jesus shouldn’t have chosen him?

“I know Jesus didn’t choose me because of who I am,” Peter continues, “He chose me because of who He is, despite my failures.”

This man must be crazy. No one, especially the God of the universe, would choose someone who failed them, right? I look around, eager for an excuse to leave this conversation. But as he continues talking, I become wrapped up in Peter’s words as he recounts his time with Jesus and speaks of His great mercy.

“He called me by name,” Peter tells me with tears in his eyes. “He called me by name and just asked me if I loved Him. I said I did love Him, and, in the midst of my failures, He chose me.”

My skepticism falters. Though it seems crazy, I can’t help but believe it might be true. I can’t keep my lips from pulling upward into a smile that mirrors Peter’s. I thank him for his time and leave.

Could it be true? I wonder. Could I be chosen to follow Jesus? I begin to pray, “I love You, Jesus. I want to follow You.” • Julia Frontz

• Today’s fictional story is how one author imagines what it would be like to interview Peter (also known as Simon or Cephas), one of Jesus’s twelve disciples. If you want to dig deeper, you can read more about Peter’s failures and Jesus’s responses in Matthew 14:22-33; 16:21-23; 26:31-35; Luke 22:49-51, 54-62; John 18:10-11; 21:1-25; Galatians 2:11-21.

• Does God value us because of anything we do or don’t do? Is anyone more or less worthy of God’s love than anyone else? (Hint: read Romans 3:23-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:5)

• Ephesians 1:4-5 says, “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.” What might it look like for you to live in light of this reality—that God has chosen you because He loves you and wants to be with you?

You can find out more about what it means to know Jesus on our "Know Jesus" page.

[Jesus said,] “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.” John 15:16 (NIV)