For three years the disciples followed Jesus. They witnessed people receive their sight having been born blind. They watched leprous skin clear up right before them. They were standing there when Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb four days after he died. They handed out the five loaves and two fish to the 5,000. They not only saw Jesus walk on water, they saw Him calm the wind and waves. They had countless fireside discussions that you and I will never know about. That’s why I’ve always been baffled by this one thing that happened after the resurrection.
John 21:3 says, “Simon Peter said to the others, ‘I am going fishing.’ ‘We will come with you,’ they told him” (GNT). After all they had seen and done, they went back to their old life. It’s hard for me to comprehend how they could experience everything they did, and then just simply go back to their old life. Had they forgotten that Jesus had told them that from now on they would be fishers of men? How could they go back to being regular fishermen? No matter how perplexing it is, I have to wonder if we are any different.
We may not have seen those miracles as they did, but if we accepted Jesus as our savior, we experienced the power of God in our own life. We felt that initially cleansing feeling and the peace that passes understanding. Yet somehow, many times we go right back to our old way of living. We know we are supposed to be a new creation, but that old life that’s supposed to be dead and buried calls out to us and tempts us to go back. Even though we experienced the power of the resurrection, we sometimes live as though it had no affect on our life.
That life is as fruitless as that night of fishing for the disciples. The great news for us is that Jesus is on the shore calling out to us, “Have you caught anything?” Then He reminds us to cast our nets on the other side. He reminds us to return to Him and to live our life in the power of the resurrection. When we live that way, our nets will be full. Jesus’ words to them that morning were simple: Follow me. That call goes out to us too. Don’t go back to who you once were before you followed Him. If you have “gone fishing” in that old life, you can swim to shore where Jesus is waiting to welcome you back with open arms.
Photo by Johannes Plenio from Pexels
Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 
You mentioned once that, when under stress, we tend to choose the easy way out. We go back to the comfort of what we know. But if we can catch ourselves doing this, perhaps that’s the catalyst for change. Maybe then we can at least look to the shore where Jesus is cooking us breakfast. One of my favorite quotes is, “If the plan doesn’t work change the plan, but never the goal.” Blessings.
I love that quote! Agreed. They always say the first step in making a change is realizing you need to make it. When we find ourselves reverting, it’s time to jump out of the boat of the familiar.
We must push outside the comfort of our conditioned responses. Amen, brother.
I understand the disciples reaction. Fishing is my default for about everything. When jesus asked Peter if he loved him more than these, I know he was pointing at the fish.
I love that! I think I’m going to borrow it. Thanks.