Our identity redefined

The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter). John 1:41-42

I was reading in John today, and looking at Jesus encounter with the first disciples. One thing stuck me anew as I looked at this story. Jesus redefines who Simon. Simon is a fisherman. an angry man, a troubled man. A man adrift.

Jesus gives him a new identity. He says, Simon, you will be called Cephas... Peter. When Jesus calls Peter, He redefines who Peter is. Peter will go through a process to learn what this means, but at this point, God has begun a process of making him a new man. One who will follow Christ, and one on whom the church will be built. One who is completely God's, and will die as his Lord died.

As I think about this statement in my own life, the reminder that I see is this. Christ’s call redefines who I am. I am no longer a free agent, alone and adrift in the world. I have an identity and a place in this world. I am now God’s child. I am His son, and that means that like Peter, I have entered the process of being transformed into the image of Christ, the image of God. Will it be hard? It was for Peter. But the fruit of that process is that our lives, and my life, is brought towards its chief, most important, end- glorifying God and enjoying Him forever, and that, I want more than anything else.