It Begins Again as it Began Before
Peter is a well known disciple. His conversations, his
faith, and his denial are all renown through the Bible. I’m sure the other
apostles had conversations with Jesus, but for some reason, Peter’s are the
most recorded. He questioned to learn. He went with John and James to literally
see Jesus transform, and there was Moses and Elijah right there for them to
see. Peter walked on the water when no one else would. When Jesus asked “Who do
you say I am?” Peter was first to speak, “You are the Christ.”
Peter’s new day with Jesus started as it began when he was
first called to follow and become a fisher of men. While out fishing, and
having a bad day of empty nets, Jesus came to shore and hollers out, “Have you
caught anything?”
The answer is a resounding, and a very imaginable irritated,
“No!”
“Throw your nets on the other side.”
At work, don’t we just love people looking over our
shoulder? Asking us how it’s going? Giving unsolicited advice on a problem we
have stared at over and over and can’t find the solution? Imagine Peter, who is
probably in a long legacy of fisherman, looking back at the shore and being
snarky, “Throw them on the other side.” Like a teenager who you tell to do
their chores and then ask them to do them again a little better. That under-the-breath
mumble that is does not represent any gratitude for the help offered. Yet, to
get people off our backs, we do it grudgingly.
Peter listened and did as he was asked. Whether it was with
gratitude or not, he did it, and the catch almost sunk his boat. Like a
teenager, he was so excited, he left the heavy haul for others to bring in and
swam ashore to greet Jesus who tells him to follow Him.
Three years of the
most unimaginable adventure happened; they created a family. There were even
disputes. “Who is the greatest among us?” Or in other words, who’s your
favorite. “If you have me do this, what about him?”
Peter was the one to question and wanted to know more. He
saw people healed of lameness, blindness, and leprosy. He saw people rise from
the dead, tasted water that was turned to wine. He saw the storms that
threatened their lives hushed with a whisper. He was there. And yet, his faith
faltered time and again.
After Peter denied
Christ three times, he walked away from it all. All he had done, all that he
saw. Jesus was dead, and he more than likely blamed himself that he did not do
enough. He probably could not believe that the one man who had saved so many
did not save himself, but allowed the soldiers to take him, beat him, spit on
him, mock him, and then hang him on a cross. Peter was devastated to see it all
crash down, and in the end, lose his best friend.
Peter returned to fishing. Again, he was out on the sea, as
that very first day, catching nothing. Again, Christ appeared and said to throw
the nets in one more time on the other side, and the nets were so over flowing
with fish, it took both boats out on the water to pull them in. Peter did as he
did before, and swam to shore to greet the Christ. That’s when Christ
reinstated the man He predicted would deny Him three times. And three times
Christ asked Peter, “Do you love Me?” and each time Peter said “Lord, You know
I love You,” Jesus answered, “Feed My sheep.”
Three times of denial, Peter must have thought his days of
Jesus trusting him were gone. He must have thought he had no place with The
Messiah. Wasn’t Peter the one who took the soldier’s ear off to defend Jesus
when they arrested Him? Yet those denials, as the cock crowed with the break of
day just as Jesus said he would to save his own life, all because he was
scared, still rang in his hears. But Christ reinstated him, and as it began
before, it began again. Peter went into the world fervent and on fire for the
Lord.
Every day we make mistakes. Some days we too mess up so bad;
yelling at the kids and our anger getting our out of control, getting a
speeding ticket when we know there’s a school zone, getting into a wreck when
we knew in our mind that light was red. Having a wrong, tempting thought, a
wrong, hateful word, just as Jesus knew we would before we were even a thought
to our parents, and yet God says to us, “Do you love Me? Right here, right now,
do you still love Me? Because no matter what, no matter the conditions, the
consequences of the time, or the events that happen, I still love you, and I
only have one request. Feed My sheep.”
Can you reach back into the day when you first saw Christ
walk into your life and call you to follow Him?
Or is today the first?
What was it like?
What is it like today?
Where were you?
Where were you?
Where are you now?
Were you alone or with someone (even then you can still feel alone)?
Were you alone or with someone (even then you can still feel alone)?
Are you alone?
Can you let it begin again as it began before, and in your
heart find Peter’s fire to go and do as God has called you to do?
Or let it begin today and let it continue on with one foot
in front of the other, and become one to feed the sheep?
What the
next thing you know?
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