When you just want to go fishing

“fisher of men.” For three years, Peter and the other guys followed Jesus, did what they were told of Him (for the most part). They each grew in the knowledge of Christ and in their faith. They also learned to be dependent on Christ for their needs.

So after the resurrection, I imagine it was an awkward time for them, as Jesus wasn’t with them. This time leads us to the scripture found in John 21:1-6, which reads… “After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately[a] got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?” They answered Him, “No.” And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.

So what happened here was that Peter, who wasn’t passive at all, told the others that he was going fishing. Then they decided to go with him. Despite the fact that several of them had been fishing their whole lives, the scripture says they fished all night yet caught nothing. When they told Jesus that they hadn’t caught any fish, He told them to cast their net to the right side of the boat. If you’ve ever been fishing on a boat, you would know how absurd this would seem. Nevertheless, when Jesus gave them a command to cast their nets on the right side they did it. All of a sudden they caught so many fish, that they couldn’t even get the net back into the boat.

What made the difference? Through the night, they were fishing under human leadership. When they listened to the leading of the Lord, they were fishing under His leadership. The first thought I have from this passage, is that even if we’re doing a good thing, we may be wasting our time if we try to do it on our own. Success is guaranteed when we are obedient to the Lord.

There’s a second thing that I see illustrated in these verses, primarily in verse three. Peter said he was going fishing, then all those who were there, said they were going with him. Maybe this was a way of saying that they were going back to their old lifestyle before they met Jesus. Maybe they were giving up. There’s been days in my walk with Christ where I didn’t feel His presence as strongly. There’s been days when I just wanted to do my own thing. Then just in time, and in His own way, the Lord would speak to me. It’s in those moments, I could focus on Him, and my joy would be restored the way Peter’s was in the later parts of the chapter. His ways have always been, and always will be, higher than mine. He’s never failed. Be Blessed.