Gone fishing

Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We are going with you also." They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. John 21.2-3

I apologise again for the confusion. We will get back to Acts in just a couple of days.

After Jesus appeared to the disciples it appears that they didn’t know quite what to do next. Simon was gathered with six other disciples when Simon said ‘I’m going fishing lads!’ The other six replied simple, ‘alright, we’re going too.’

So they went out fishing, spent all night in the boat, and caught nothing.

The next morning Jesus came to where they were and asked how their fishing went. They told Jesus that they had not caught anything. Next Jesus told them to try again on the other side of the boat.  To their surprise they caught so many fish that they could not bring them into the boat.

It doesn’t take a great theologian to figure out the application here.

Peter was a brash kind of guy. He often acted on impulse. Here, instead of waiting for Christ to tell them what to do he just figured they would go back to fishing and the other guys agreed, despite the fact that Jesus had promised to make them ‘fishers of men.’

And they failed. Just like we do when we go off on our own without waiting for Him. It is important that we not using waiting as a excuse for laziness, but at the same time we need to be sure that we don’t rush off without praying and patience and seeking God’s direction.

Jesus came to them, gave them a good catch, and then reminded them what they were supposed to be doing.