Fishing Lesson 3

Posted on by korgrocker

“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. Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore.”
John 21:6-8 NLT

The penny finally dropped. It was Peter’s boat that Jesus used, in the Luke 5 account, as a platform to teach the crowd, and he would have immediately been reminded of that occasion, one that resulted in a tremendous catch of fish. Something stirred in Peter’s mind as he realised who the mystery Man was standing there on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. For Peter, this was where his journey started, in a boat with more fish than he could ever have expected catching. Peter was the man who had let down his friend and Master by denying that he knew Him three times, and his conscience would have been badly affecting his nights’ sleeps. And yet, Peter couldn’t wait to return to the shore. He put his clothes back on and waded or swam back to shore, leaving the others to sort out the boat and heavy net. It wasn’t Peter though who firstly recognised who the Man was. Once again it was “the disciple who Jesus loved”, who we know was John, the writer of this account in his Gospel. 

As we reflect on this story and remember God’s generosity, we turn to what Jesus had previously said in Luke 6:38, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back”. The picture of a generous God who multiplies our puny efforts in giving applied first to the disciples. They gave up everything to follow Jesus and He returned their commitment with the miracle of catching more fish than they could have imagined. We pilgrims may also have had a similar experience, finding out that God knows our needs and makes provision for them in response to our faith. 

Initially, the disciples failed to recognise Jesus standing there on the shore. But when they had come to the end of their own human resources, God, in the form of Jesus, was waiting to take over. And so often it is with us. Instead of praying about a problem and engaging God’s help and provision, we try every method we can think of to come up with a solution without Him. Then, finally, we think about prayer and more often than not, find God was patiently waiting in the wings with the answer all the time. Psalm 37:25, “Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.”

Dear Lord. Please forgive us for our reluctance to pray and bring our needs before You. You are always wanting to bless Your children. We praise and thank You today. Amen.

Fishing Lesson 2

Posted on by korgrocker

“Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night. 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. 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 21:3-6 NLT

A fruitless night’s work. In fact, they were depressed when they went fishing and returned, still depressed and now tired, after a night without sleep. In spite of their best endeavours they had caught nothing. Not even a tiddler. And to make things worse, this Person had turned up on the beach and rubbed their noses in their disappointment by asking if they had caught anything. A terse reply “No!” was their response, but then He, because it was Jesus, told them to throw their nets over a particular side of the boat. I suppose their first thoughts were resentment and “who does he think he is – we’re the experts around here”, but something must have cut through their thoughts, and, tired as they were, they cast their nets. The Man on the shore said that they would catch “some” but they caught so many fish they couldn’t pull their nets back into the boat. Another amazing miracle. 

The event was just like God. No half measures. No stinginess. Just an unstinting and bountiful supply of whatever was needed at the time. That haul of fish would have provided the financial resources to keep them all going for a while. There was a time when Jesus went fishing with His soon-to-be disciples. A crowd has gathered to listen to Jesus, in fact there were so many people that He borrowed a boat and used it as an oratory. And we read in Luke 5 what happened next. “When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking”(Luke 5:4-7). The episode ended, ” … Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus” (Luke 5:10b-11). 

Faced with such a miracle, yet again, what were the disciples thinking? Peter and the others who had been present during that original miracle must have remembered the occasion. Then, Jesus commandeered their boat after a fruitless night’s fishing, and turned their fortunes around. Now He had repeated the miracle. Two miracles either side of the grave, emphasising that God is not bounded by death. All who believe in Him will experience eternal life, now and after crossing the Great Divide.

Is there anyone reading this today who needs a miracle? Well, the same Saviour who filled a net with fish will fill our hearts and lives with His provision, just when we need it. He is an unstinting God, who delights in His children. Our circumstances might be riven with fear, but Jesus says to us what He said to he leader of the Synagogue, “But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith“” (Mark 5:36). David knew all about God’s provision and he wrote in Psalm 23:5-6, “You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honour me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever“. The Lord is not just a passive presence, He “pursues” us with His “goodness and unfailing love“. He is with us, before us, behind us and around us. Everyday of our lives.

Dear Lord Jesus, we worship and praise and thank You today, for all You have done for us. Amen.

Fishing Lesson 1

Posted on by korgrocker

“Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.”
John 21:1-3 NLT

This last chapter in John’s Gospel is entitled “Epilogue”. Seven of the disciples decided to go fishing, back to the time when Jesus called them from this very profession. A night-time excursion out on the Sea of Galilee. So they readied the boat and presumably headed off into the places where they knew they would normally have caught something. They returned to their comfort zones, as they struggled to get their minds around the grief over what had happened to Jesus, as they wondered what the implications would be from His appearance to them in the locked room, and at a loss to know what to do next. We read what happened after hours and hours of toil, “but they caught nothing all night”. How discouraging was that? They would have usually caught something, but nothing at all? So the depressed disciples ended up even more depressed after a fruitless night’s labour.

Do we pilgrims sometimes find the same? We encounter something that totally throws us out of our routines, or we experience a discouraging event, losing a job or a loved one, or suffer some other life event in our journey that totally throws us and all we can do is to get back into our comfort zones, doing something familiar to find comfort and give us time to make sense of what has happened. But that might not be the best place for us, because rather than reach into the temporal, we should instead be entering the Kingdom realm where we can find Jesus. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you“. Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus”. 

The disciples lost their way for a bit, but Jesus had a solution, as we will soon find out. We too may lose our way sometimes, but we must always turn to Jesus instead of looking for a solution in a world corrupted by evil. Our comfort zones may not align with God’s Kingdom, and we run the risk of becoming depressed as the disciples did, catching nothing of any value even if we work hard at trying to make something happen. There is only one way to eternal life and that is through Jesus. Only He is the Way.

Dear Lord, You are the Way, the Truth and the Life. The comfort our souls crave for can only be found in You. Amen.