Peter was a person whom God greatly used. A well-known character of the New Testament and an important leader of the early Christian Church, he was one of Jesus’ 12 original disciples and one of three who were closest to the Lord. However, of all the characters in the Bible, I believe that Peter is the most maligned and misunderstood.

When I was young in the faith, I also had lots of questions about Peter. Like many Christians, I had often asked why God chose Peter to be His servant. I had often questioned his credentials as a disciple of Christ too.

I could easily accept and understand why God chose Paul. Paul was an intelligent, highly educated, highly motivated, and highly disciplined person. He was a purpose-driven, goal-oriented and highly-organized man. However, I could not see or think of any logical reason why God would chose Peter as one of His disciples and would use him as a pillar of the New Testament Church.

As far as I could see, Peter was not qualified. He was a very disorganized person. He talked and acted without thinking. He was emotional and temperamental. He often argued with people and was proud and arrogant. Being a fisherman, he was not as well educated as Paul. In the Garden of Gethsemane, when our Lord was praying as He faced the greatest crisis of His life, Peter slept. During the trial of Jesus, Peter denied the Lord although he was very vocal about giving up his life for Him.

Consequently, I could not understand why God had chosen and used him, until one day I read Luke 5. In this passage that records how God called Peter into the ministry, I could see one good reason why God chose Peter in spite of his seeming disqualification. God called Peter because the Lord saw through His heart.

First of all, God used Peter because He saw that Peter had a loving heart—a heart that is selfless and benevolent.

One day Jesus was preaching by the Lake of Gennesaret, and a big crowd gathered around Him. Needing room so He could preach to everyone, Jesus got into one of two boats that were there – the one belonging to Peter. He then asked Peter to put the boat out a little from the shore. When Peter did that, Jesus sat down on the boat and taught the people from there.

In Luke 5, we notice that Jesus got into Peter’s boat without permission. He even asked Peter to push the boat out for Him. Prior to this, there is no record showing that Peter knew Jesus, for he was not yet a follower of Christ, neither was he a friend of His. But in spite of that, Peter did not get angry when Jesus, a stranger, used his boat without permission. Although Jesus bluntly asked him to push the boat for Him, Peter did not refuse His request. The reason? Peter had an unselfish and loving heart. He was willing to give up his rights for others. He actually had many reasons not to do what Jesus had requested. He did not know Jesus. He was the boat owner. He was busy washing his nets. He was tired from a whole night of fishing. He was frustrated because he did not catch any fish the night before. But Peter, with his loving heart, instead, he willingly did what Jesus wanted him to do because he knew that Jesus and the crowd needed his boat as a podium for preaching.

This selfless act of love, I believe, endeared the fisherman to Jesus. To be a servant of God, we need to have a heart like Peter’s. We need to be selfless and loving.

Peter did not only have a loving heart; he also had an obedient heart.

In the Bible, obedience often means four things. It means doing what God commands. It means doing what He wants willingly. It means doing what He demands thoroughly. It also means doing what He wants immediately.

When Jesus asked Peter to put the boat out so He could preach, Peter obeyed. He neither argued, complained nor hesitated. Instead, he did so willingly, thoroughly and immediately. Peter could have refused Jesus and said, “Push the boat if you need it.” Peter had a younger brother and he could have called to him and said, “Andy, push the boat for this stranger.” There were other fishermen around whom he could have requested to do the job. This would have saved him the trouble. As well as from probable embarrassment of being used by a stranger. But, Peter chose to push the boat himself. He chose to humbly obey.

Why did the Lord use Peter? He Because he was an obedient person. Check your heart today. Are you a person who willingly, thoroughly and immediately does what God wants you to do?

After Jesus used Peter’s boat to preach, He made another suggestion to Peter. He asked Peter to put the boat farther out into the deep and fish.

“What nerve! Jesus, a carpenter, teaching Peter, to fish?” some of you would probably think. But Peter did not respond that way. The first word he uttered was “Master.” Then, after explaining that they had fished all night but caught nothing, he told Jesus, “but because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

Peter had a teachable heart. He was the expert when it came to fishing. He and his fellow fishermen had fished the whole night and caught nothing but he heeded the advice of Jesus, the carpenter. In the Sea of Gennesaret, good fishermen don’t fish in the deep at daytime, but Peter called Jesus “master” for suggesting that he fish in the deep that morning. It takes a man of great humility to do what Peter did. No wonder, Jesus chose him to be His disciple.

God cannot, and does not, use a person who is stubborn and unwilling to learn. God did not use Moses when he was a proud and self-sufficient prince. God used him only when he recognized his own limitations and humbled himself before God. God used King Saul when he was young and teachable. But when his tender heart grew callous, God stopped using him. God did not use Paul when he was proud of his religious and social heritage. However, God used him when, on the road to Damascus, he humbly asked, “Lord, who are you? What shall I do?”

Jesus chose Peter also because of his God-fearing heart. After Peter heeded the advice of Jesus, he and the other fishermen were able to catch two boats full of fish. When Peter saw the fish, he immediately fell on his knees and called out, “Lord, depart from me, for I am a sinner.”

There were other fishermen around him but none of them did as he did, recognizing Jesus as Lord. None of them saw his own sinfulness and unworthiness in the presence of Jesus. They were too happy with the fish before them and were too engrossed with bringing in the catch to realize that they were in the presence of the Son of God. Like many of us when God blesses, they were too busy enjoying their gifts to recognize the giver.

But Peter was different. His heart was attuned to the Lord and he readily saw Him in the midst of his blessings. Because Peter had a God-fearing heart, he was more concerned about his spiritual state than his physical well being when he saw the two boats full of fish. Hence, he knelt before Jesus. What a heart! What a man!

Another reason why Jesus chose Peter was because he had a repentant heart. When Peter recognized Jesus as Lord, he said, “Depart from me for I am a sinner.” He humbled himself before the Lord because he saw his own sinfulness before Him.

Throughout history, God has used only men who have had the spirit of repentance in them. God did not use Isaiah until he recognized that he was “a man of unclean lips who live[d] among a people of unclean lips.” Paul was of no use to God until he had a change of heart on the Road to Damascus. God used Augustine after he changed his wanton ways when he met the Lord and heard his voice in the garden of a monastery.

To be used of God, we must have Peter’s repentant heart. The Bible makes it clear that if a man would cleanse himself and flee from ignoble things, then he would be used of God. Hence, we must always be sensitive to sin and flee from it at all cost.

“Without faith, it is impossible to please God,” the Bible says. Jesus was pleased with Peter because he had faith—genuine, active faith.

When Peter and his fellow fishermen reached the shore, Peter immediately left everything he had and followed the Lord. This clearly expressed his—a faith neither shallow, fake nor superficial, but rather real, deep and steadfast. Consequently, when he recognized that Jesus is Lord, he left all that he had and committed himself to Jesus.

Oftentimes, our faith is cosmetic faith. It is fair-weather faith. It is ornamental faith. When problems arise, when things go wrong, when we are all alone, when our faith is put to the test and found wanting, our actions betray our faith. Only a person whose faith is genuine would act and live according to his belief. Peter had that kind of a faith—a living and active faith. Hence, it pleased the Lord and He chose this man of faith to be His servant.

This afternoon, I challenge all of you to take good care of your heart. The Bible says that man looks at the outward but God looks at the heart. It commands us to guard our hearts with all diligence for from it flows the wellspring of life. I hope that none of us here feel that we are unworthy and unqualified to serve the Lord simply because we lack the credentials and external qualifications. Instead, I hope that all of us would feel inadequate or unworthy if our heart is not right before God.