John 21:3-6 (ESV) 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.
Thinking back across my life…I have had many leaders. Whether it be my parents, in sports in High School, jobs I have had, or places in the church. We all have been under leadership at points of our life! Someone has had some sort of authority over you!
We all can think of bad leaders….we all can think of average leaders….we all can think of great leaders! There is a myriad of experiences we all have had across all of our lives! Experience that either left us uplifted and hopeful or feeling defeated and hopeless.
Each of us has had some sort of person over us that has impacted our lives in such a way. Further, it is human nature to want to follow a leader of some sort!
We are literally wired that way by God. To look to those around us to take us forward, to mentor us, guide us, provide for us, protect us, or even to give us the opportunities to lead ourselves! God has innately made you to crave leadership.
My question to you is this, who are you seeking this leadership from? Looking at the Scripture today, we see a wonderful historic event in the church. When you study the whole story of John 21 you will find the “full circle of Peter’s defining point in life.”
From his denial of Christ all the way to His rejoining Him on a beach next to a charcoal fire. I want us to focus on just a few of the verses here as they tell a subtle yet amazing story in and of themselves. In verse 3 you see several other disciples following Peter into a small fishing vessel to fish at night. This is odd on multiple fronts…this is a SMALL fishing boat being packed with several men. Also, who goes fishing at night like this??? I’m not expert, so I may be incorrect here, but that just doesn’t seem right.
I am convinced that during this time the other disciples are looking to Peter. They are following Peter’s lead. What happens? They follow him and they come back with empty nets.
Yet in just a few short verses we see Christ appear before them. Likely 100 yards or more away from the boat He directs them to lower their nets. They likely had no way of knowing it was Christ…as at the distance from the boat they wouldn’t have been able to make out who it was. They went in faith…they lowered their nets…and the catch was so utterly large they couldn’t haul it in.
You see, in this story we find a contrast of what happens when you follow man, versus when you follow Christ. When you follow man you will be left disappointed time after time. Even the best leaders I have ever had were like Peter. Flawed and imperfect. They may have had their flashes of greatness that left me feeling secured or motivated…but never had I felt joy because of one of them.
Contrast that against Christ. Every single time in my life that I have put my faith in His direction, He has left my nets full to the maximum. He has given me an abundant catch time after time after time after time.
So, my question to you today Christian is this…who are you following?
SOLI DEO GLORIA!!!!
