Full Net/Full Life

I was reading in John 21 for my devotions the other day and something struck me. You know the story. Jesus had died and rose again and appeared to the disciples already. The disciples were back to fishing. They had fished all night and caught nothing. Then Jesus called to them from the beach, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they replied not knowing it was Jesus speaking to them. Jesus then told them to throw their net on the other side of the boat. And viola- they could hardly haul in the huge net full of fish. Then the disciples realized it was their Lord who had called to them and Peter jumped into the water to get to him as fast as he could. The others rowed to shore and dragged the net onto the beach. There were 154 fish and the net wasn’t even torn! Jesus then calls them to a breakfast he had ready for them on the beach.

Many friends and family have warned us that we are too busy. Maybe they are right. But it seems that God has called us to throw our net on the other side of our boat right now and our net is full. But it is God who is filling it and because of that our net is not torn. We remain healthy, excited about the ministry God has given us and still have energy. What we need to be careful is that we don’t take this for granted and just go fill up our net again on our own. We need to listen when God calls us to “breakfast” with him on the beach. Pray we will respond to God’s calling in our lives at every turn.