“Simon Peter . . . wrapped his outer garment around him . . . and jumped into the water.” John 21:7
After Jesus’ resurrection and initial appearance to the disciples, the disciples decided to head back north to the Sea of Galilee and go fishing. I think that’s so interesting! They had devoted three years of their lives to following Jesus. Now Jesus had been crucified. Even though He had risen from the dead, there was no physical, human person to follow. So they went back to what they did before meeting Jesus. They went back to fishing on the Sea of Galilee. I wonder if they thought that the wonderful time of following Jesus was now over so it was time to go back to “normal” life. But Jesus wouldn’t let them get away with that. He showed up on the shore of the lake.
Let’s picture this scene. The disciples are on a boat out on the lake. They’ve been fishing all night but the fishing trip was a complete failure. At least from a human perspective. They didn’t catch a single thing. Then Jesus supplies them with a miraculously huge catch. But He’s not even in the boat with them. He’s still on the shore. I was once asked where I see myself. Am I on the boat, struggling with the heavy nets full of fish, or am I on the shore sitting at the feet of Jesus? My answer was that I don’t see myself in either place. I’m like Peter. I’ve jumped in the water and I’m swimming towards Jesus. I want desperately to be closer to Him but I don’t feel that I’ve arrived yet.
Lately we’ve been hearing a lot about when life gets “back to normal.” And maybe it will. Or maybe life will never be quite the same again. There’s no way for any of us to really know for sure what it’s going to be like. But the bigger question is this: after you’ve given your life to Jesus, did your life go back to the old normal? If so, I challenge you to ask God where He wants to make changes in your life. Because if you’re trying to live life like you did before meeting Jesus, your own attempts will fail. You’ll fish all night without catching a single fish. But Jesus isn’t going to leave you there. He’s asking you to come to Him, listen to Him, follow Him. Let Him fill your net with the largest catch you’ve ever had. But it’s not that catch that’s the most important. Jesus is more important than anything. So where are you? Are you on the boat, trying to do the work yourself? Are you sitting at the feet of Jesus, allowing Him to feed you? Or are you somewhere in between, recklessly jumping out of the boat and into the water just to be closer to Him? Whatever our “new normal” looks like after quarantine, allow Jesus to change your spiritual normal to something better and greater than you can imagine. Take the leap. Jump into the water and start swimming to Him!