It was early morning. Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, the sons of Zebedee and two others of the disciples had been fishing. It had to be a very discouraging morning. They had fished all night and caught nothing. Nada.
Then came Jesus walking on the seashore. And that changed EVERYTHING!
Jesus told them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat and they would find fish. They must have really doubted the man on the seashore after having fished all night and catching zero!?
And yet, when they obeyed His words, the net immediately filled with fish and became too heavy to even draw into the boat. They began dragging it to shore.
And then John knew. "It is The Lord!" he said.
When Peter heard that, he immediately plunged into the sea! They were only about 100 yards from land, but Peter was not about to wait for the time it took to drag that net to shore! He wanted to be with Jesus now!
We know that Jesus is always on the shore as we travel this sea of life every day.
The question for us, his daughters, is this: Will we plunge in and swim passionately toward Him or be carried about by the waves of the world?
You know the waves. The "urgent" things that sometimes crowd out the eternal things. They are swirling in every one of our lives constantly. School. Ballgames. Homework. Health issues. Loss of a loved one (spiritually and/or physically). Our jobs. Family problems. Financial problems (too much or too little!)
However, in the middle of it all, we are called to be fervently swimming toward Jesus!
Are our daily habits based on our relationship with Christ more than any other?
Do we plunge into His Word daily? Do we pray without ceasing, carrying on a constant dialogue with Him daily?
Are our decisions based on the fact that He is very close to us every second?
Do we control our tongue? Our Thoughts?
Do we dress like we would if we were standing close to His side?
I love Peter. I love that we are told about his mistakes and his passion for Christ. I love the humanity of Peter. I hope that I would have plunged into the water! I can't know the answer to that, however, I am trying to live completely close to Him every day!
It is then, and only then, that can we live with the "peace that passes understanding" in a world in which Satan is walking about "seeking whom he may devour."
Jesus told Peter that Satan had asked to "sift him like wheat." Today that would mean that Satan wanted to put him through something like a high powered paper shredder!
However, Jesus told Peter, "But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail."
Jesus stands on the shore of our lives as we pray through Him daily.
If we trust that, our faith will not fail!
Love in Christ, ❤️
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