What Side Are You On?
The beginning of Simon Peter's walk with Jesus.
Matthew 4:18,19,20
And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
John 21:3,4,5,6
Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.
But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.
And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
After reading these scriptures, I started thinking about the sentence "Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find."
Peter starts out doing something which appears harmless and necessary. He went to work.
When he was called, he was fishing, doing his job.
He had been a fisherman by trade. The problem was, Peter was no longer a fisherman.
He had been called by Jesus to be a fisher of men.
His calling was sure and he applied himself until he lost sight of Jesus.
So Peter did what most of us do. He did what he had always done.
He applied himself to the task of catching fish and he caught nothing!
The ocean was full of fish. But now, there was no blessing in Peter's job.
He came up empty when he worked in his own strength.
It states in John 21 that Peter was fishing naked.
Doing things your own way...leaves you naked.
And yet when the morning was come....
Physically the morning dawned and spiritually the Light of the World, Jesus appeared and showed them what was needed.
Peter put back on his covering and his obedience brought blessing.
My thought was that Peter was on the left side or wrong side of his calling.
On a daily basis we fish. Aka...work, marry, raise children, and the list goes on.
And yet if we are not doing what we know we have been called and raised up to do...we are fishing on the left side of the boat.
And we come up with nothing.
When we follow God's direction and cast our net aka our calling in Christ Jesus/our lives on the right side of the boat...we find our prosperity.
Prosperity to meet our needs, more than enough.
More than enough blessing for us as well as those whom God has placed with us.
As you read the rest of John chapter 21, you see that Jesus did not berate Simon Peter, but showed him His provision that was provided by Peter's obedience to do as Jesus instructed. Regardless, of Peter's questions, Jesus reminds him of his original calling.
Follow me and again, Follow thou me. John 21:19 and John 21:22.
Are you fishing on the wrong side of the boat?
If you are, I want to encourage you to cast your net on the right side.
~Debbie
Matthew 4:18,19,20
And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
John 21:3,4,5,6
Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.
But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.
And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
After reading these scriptures, I started thinking about the sentence "Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find."
Peter starts out doing something which appears harmless and necessary. He went to work.
When he was called, he was fishing, doing his job.
He had been a fisherman by trade. The problem was, Peter was no longer a fisherman.
He had been called by Jesus to be a fisher of men.
His calling was sure and he applied himself until he lost sight of Jesus.
So Peter did what most of us do. He did what he had always done.
He applied himself to the task of catching fish and he caught nothing!
The ocean was full of fish. But now, there was no blessing in Peter's job.
He came up empty when he worked in his own strength.
It states in John 21 that Peter was fishing naked.
Doing things your own way...leaves you naked.
And yet when the morning was come....
Physically the morning dawned and spiritually the Light of the World, Jesus appeared and showed them what was needed.
Peter put back on his covering and his obedience brought blessing.
My thought was that Peter was on the left side or wrong side of his calling.
On a daily basis we fish. Aka...work, marry, raise children, and the list goes on.
And yet if we are not doing what we know we have been called and raised up to do...we are fishing on the left side of the boat.
And we come up with nothing.
When we follow God's direction and cast our net aka our calling in Christ Jesus/our lives on the right side of the boat...we find our prosperity.
Prosperity to meet our needs, more than enough.
More than enough blessing for us as well as those whom God has placed with us.
As you read the rest of John chapter 21, you see that Jesus did not berate Simon Peter, but showed him His provision that was provided by Peter's obedience to do as Jesus instructed. Regardless, of Peter's questions, Jesus reminds him of his original calling.
Follow me and again, Follow thou me. John 21:19 and John 21:22.
Are you fishing on the wrong side of the boat?
If you are, I want to encourage you to cast your net on the right side.
~Debbie
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