When we go through tough seasons, our tendency is to regress to where we have been rather than to where God is leading us. How much did the Israelites complain on the way to the Promised Land? They kept wanting to go back to Egypt. What about Lot’s wife? Even Peter went back to fishing after the crucifixion. We tend to edit the past in our mind to believe it was better than it was. Yet God is calling you forward. We don’t need to deny the past, but it’s hard to move forward when you’re looking backwards. It’s time to look ahead to where God is taking you instead of behind you to where He’s releasing you from.
Here are some Bible verses on looking ahead:
1. Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.
Proverbs 4:25-27 NLT
2. But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back [to the things left behind] is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:62 AMP
3. When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, “Run for your lives! And don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”
Genesis 19:17 NLT
4. But the Lord says, “Do not cling to events of the past or dwell on what happened long ago. Watch for the new thing I am going to do. It is happening already—you can see it now! I will make a road through the wilderness and give you streams of water there.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 GNT
5. I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead.
Philippians 3:13 TPT
Photo by Adam Neumann on Unsplash
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Devotions by Chris Hendrix 
Great post Chris. I whole heartedly agree, “Don’t get distracted by thoughts of the past.” I do wonder though about whether the events of John 21 were a falling back or just an innocent fishing trip. Jesus pulled no punches in correcting Peter on several occasions previously, but here, He never directly mentions that there was anything amiss with their fishing but asks about whether he loves Him and reminds him to follow.
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Great point. I always look at it as Peter disqualifying himself and going back to His old life. Jesus comes to remind him that the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable. Jesus asking him if he loved Him was as much about feeding the sheep and returning to his calling as it was for restoration.
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Very well could be, or this may instead be a loving correction of the three times. Peter denied Him, or both. That’s the beauty of the depth of scripture.
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Remember Peter had said, “Even if everyone else forsakes you I will not.” Jesus may now be probing by asking, “Do you really love me more than these “other men”? Notice Peter won’t reply “yes.” He simply says, “You know that I love you.”
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Like you said, this is the beauty of Scripture. Such depth. We could study this passage for a while and find so many truths.
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