Peter comes nearer to us than any of his brother Apostles. We revere James, the brother of our Lord, for his austere saintliness. We strain our eyes in the effort to follow John to the serene heights, whither his eagle-wing bore him. But Peter is so human, so like ourselves in his downsittings and uprisings, so compassed with infirmity, that we are encouraged to hope that perhaps the Great Potter may be able to make something even of our common clay.When walking over his farmstead with a friend we came on a field, which on a former visit appeared to be choked with thistles. He had bought it at a cheap rate because of its derelict condition. But it had been carefully drained and enriched. Much care and science had been expended on it, and to my friend’s surprise a rich crop of clover resulted. The long-buried seed had lain starved and hopeless in the soil till the rich culture had called it into evidence.It needed the Saviour’s insight to discover an Apostle in Simon Bar-jona, the fisherman; and the Saviour’s patient culture to elicit the dormant qualities of his character, which speak in every paragraph of his Epistles, and fitted him to be the leader of the Primitive Church. But if the Master could do so much for him, what may He not effect, my reader, for thee and me?CrossReach Publications