That clear sight is not treated as a private matter that can be set aside once the work begins. By the sea the questions come three times. “Do you love me?” Each answer must be given under the knowledge of the One who already knows. No remaining assertion of strength is left standing. Only then does the commission follow: feed the lambs, tend the sheep, feed the sheep. Peter does not receive that charge beforehand.

Look into the mirror. The commission is given on the other side of it.

Psalm 91 is correctly taught as a prophecy about Christ. Yet it has full hold on us as sons of the Most High, and its comfort is ours as well. One member lies awake, and the shelter was written for him too.

She has been outside nearness to God for twelve years. Not guilty. Not cleared to come into the Temple. She comes up behind Him and takes the fringe she is not clean to touch.

The altar was a rehearsal kept until the perfect offering arrived. The faith that approached it is the faith of Abraham, and we walk in it still.

Harvest has two mercies, and they are not the same sky. One reaches the reapers. The other never reaches the ground.

Sin has two faces, and they are one wound. To hate the neighbor is to hate the God whose image and lineage that neighbor still carries.

The mind is told to incline, not to empty. Peace is not the improved moment. It is a mind that has somewhere to rest while the moment is still the moment — stayed on the Lord, who keeps us because He is sure. The unseen God is not away.

He asked them to watch with Him.
They slept.

The same word is later spoken to churches that will be hunted.

The ruins remain in view.
So does the watch.