Fishing

Breakfast With Jesus

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. John 21:12 ESV

It is curious to me that like two bookends, the disciples’ experiences with Jesus were bracketed by two unlucky fishing trips. The first day with Him as well as the last, began with a morning meeting. In the first, (Luke 5:10), Jesus tells them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Then, for three and a half years, as they followed, Jesus taught them about heaven and showed them what it looked like, as He gave sight to the blind, cleansed the lepers, and fed the crowds with only a few loaves of bread.

In the same way, Jesus calls us to follow and to fish for Him. But it does seem that a lot of our fishing, just like the disciples, looks like pulling in empty nets. But Jesus also taught about planting seeds, and He said that good seed in good soil would yield a good harvest. Now harvest time is great, but most of the year on a farm is not about picking apples, grapes, or corn. A farmer’s days are filled by waiting for seeds to germinate, watering them, and then pulling weeds. Yes, the corn gets taller, the apples grow larger, and grapes begin to fill the vines, but harvest time comes at the end, not the beginning of the season. But if we faithfully follow Jesus, casting nets and pulling weeds, our harvest or catch of fish will one day come. Though our labors may seem to be unrewarded, Jesus is working all night as well and He is waiting for our arrival. As Christians, our end comes not at night, but at dawn. So, listen, He is calling you, “Come my child, bring what you have caught, sit by my side and let’s have breakfast together in Heaven!”

Launching Out Again

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”  Luke 5:5

My grandfather was the captain of a destroyer during the war and long after retirement he remained firmly in command of the ship at home. Though we loved him dearly, we grandchildren learned to respond quickly whenever He barked “All hands on deck!” when it was time for chores; or “No excuses sir!” if we got caught doing something wrong. But one of his favorite sayings happened when we made excuses. He would pause with a smile, then point his finger directly at whoever was the excuse maker and say; “No if’s and’s or but’s”

Maybe Peter had a grandfather a lot like mine, because when Jesus asked him to go back out into deeper water to throw his net out again he simply obeyed. When Peter said, “I will let down my nets” he knew that meant that he would need to load them back in the boat, then call his brother and some of his friends and go back out after having worked all night. Last of all he had to throw the heavy, water soaked net back into the water with the possibility that it would just come back in empty again. It would have been a lot easier to say, “I’m so tired Jesus, why not ask John or James?” But none of those excuses kept Peter from obeying Jesus. He trusted what Jesus said by a faith he probably didn’t yet fully understand and launched out.

When God calls me or you to launch out with him we often have plenty of if’s and’s or but’s. “If you first give me this Lord, then I’ll be happy to obey.” or “And what about my sister, why can’t she do it this time?” or even “But Lord you know I always mess this up!” But God did not call someone else. He is not interested in a faster or more efficient way of getting things done. What He cares about is teaching us to trust Him. So instead of wasting time with our “if’s and’s or but’s ; why not just load up our nets, and launch out into the deep? Until we let down our nets we’ll never know what God can do to fill them!