The Heart of God Towards All Who Wonder

​The Heart of God Towards All Who Wonder (Read time ≈ 4 minutes)
Mark 16:6–7 (ESV)
And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”
 
“And Peter”! What a call out! See, if we are not aware of the heart of God this may seem almost like a diss. Like, “my disciples… oh and Peter too”. We can almost take it as a dismissal of Peter as a disciple. We are well aware of Peter’s denial of Christ during His crucifixion. Peter crashed and burned… bad. If this angel had only told them “Go and tell the disciples.” then human judgement may have determined to leave Peter out of that classification. That because of Peter’s actions, he clearly is no longer a disciple. What was the status of Peter’s soul at that time? That is between Peter and God, but what we do know, is that Peter was in a rough spot.
 
No, this was no diss, this was no call out, this was the very love of God breaking through to Peter directly. This was, “go and tell the disciples that Christ fulfilled His promises to all of them! And for Peter too!” This was, “Peter is still mine, and I still care for him.” This was, “Peter, I’m not giving up on you that easy.” This was the very heart of God towards a struggling believer. That when someone has given up on themselves, and people have given up on them, God has not! This is the heart of God towards all who wonder. Not condemnation, but He calls to them for redemption.
 
We can both rest assured of Gods desire to restore us to repentance, but also we should reflect this heart towards others. That we should “put on” the characteristics of Christ in our lives (Colossians 3:12-15). That as our life crosses the paths others who perhaps are going through their own seasons that resemble Peter’s life in this moment, we too can be sure to reach them in this same manner. That we understand the very love of God and His compassion towards us and others. His desire for redemption for us and for others. That as God calls us to “go and tell” the ‘Peter’ around us that we would not go begrudgingly, but excitedly. That the Good News is good news every single day to every person and that we would be eager to deliver it to all.