Not too long ago, I watched a movie that by all intentions is categorized as a fun action-adventure/comedy. A classic summer flick that isn't meant to have much depth...a perfect way to close out the end of the season! But there was a piece of dialogue that really stood out to me...in fact it was repeated again later in the movie by another character. In talking to someone with a less-than-stellar past, they both told him that, for the sake of his young daughter he simply needs to, "Be the person she already thinks you are." That inspired him to want to do the right thing.

This morning I was reading about Jesus's first disciples and came upon the story of Simon's encounter. His brother Andrew was the first to meet Jesus. Andrew was so excited that he went to find Simon and brought him to meet Jesus, too.

“Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 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, which means rock).” John 1:40-42 NIV

Of all the disciples, I have often related most with Peter. Why? Because he was impulsive. He often stuck his foot firmly in his mouth. He didn't always think before he spoke or acted. I am very much like him in that way! In other words, he wasn't exactly a "rock".

So why did Jesus call him that? Because, like the little girl did with her father in the movie, Jesus saw Peter not as he really was, but as what he--by the grace of God--would become. Peter struggled and failed but in the end he went on to live out exactly what Jesus saw in him on that first day (see Acts 2 for starters).

Friends, I want to encourage you--if you often feel less than able or less than worthy, remember to simply be the person *He* already thinks you are...

“...Hosea put it well: I’ll call nobodies and make them somebodies; I’ll call the unloved and make them beloved. In the place where they yelled out, “You’re nobody!” they’re calling you “God’s living children.” ...God doesn’t count us; he calls us by name.” Romans 9:25 MSG