Fishers of men

Catch Anything? Part 2

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Part Two – The Other Side of the Boat

Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.  John 21:6 ESV

When I was a teenager om Summer nights some of us would dive into the river from a bridge on a dare.  Now we had to be careful which side of the bridge to dive from because one side had deep water  and the other did not. It was a terrifying 20 feet to the water but the thrill of surviving the plunge and swimming to the shore was worth it!

As the disciples discovered; just five minutes of fishing with Jesus was better than an entire night without Him! He knew where and when to throw the nets. When we invite Him along on our fishing trip we need to be prepared to cast our nets at unexpected times and places. The momentary fear we will feel when we take the plunge of obedience to share His message will be drowned out by our shouts of joy. Our long night of failure will be ended by a morning of  nets bursting with fish and our hearts filled with praise for Him!

fish net on gray surface

Photo by Bedis ElAcheche on Pexels.com

Catch Anything? Part One

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At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was.He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied. John 21:4-5 NLT

Now the joke in my family is that I could save a lot of time in my fishing if I just tossed the worms in the water and then took my grand-kids out for ice cream! But Jesus’ disciples were not like me. They had been fishing the Sea of Galilee since they were children. They knew how deep the water was, where the fish lived and what to use for bait. But despite their professionalism and hard work they couldn’t catch a minnow!

Does that sound a little bit like our best efforts to reach people for Jesus? No matter how hard we try or what method we use we will continue to fail unless we find out how Jesus wants us to fish. 1552053155928_image.jpg

The good news is that Jesus gives free fishing lessons. Our first assignment is to follow Him. The mistake that Peter, James and John made was that they went fishing without Jesus. Fishing without Jesus means empty nets and sore backs.

Before we launch out today determine to listen and watch for what Jesus wants us to do. As we stick close to His side we will be amazed to learn that He knows where the fish are. He knows what side of the boat to cast the net on and He will wait all through the night for us to come home to Him!