John 21:4-8 – It all starts with an honest self-appraisal

In the first three verses of John 21, we learned that Thomas Didymus, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of Jesus’ disciples followed Simon Peter and went out to fish. They toiled whole night and caught nothing. Some of them were expert fishermen. Thus, it’s truly unusual that they should catch nothing despite the time they spent on fishing. This only happened because God had a higher purpose. So we read that as the morning was breaking, Jesus stood at the beach unrecognized by Peter and the rest. The Lord then asked them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” Their answer to Him was “No.” 

This was an honest answer. If we expect the Lord to work we need to deal with our failure honestly. They were quick to recognise that they had a failed expedition. They could have allowed pride to prevent them from telling the truth and to offer all kinds of excuses for why they caught nothing. What happened tells us that if we expect the Lord to work in our circumstances, we need to honestly appraise and admit our own personal inadequacy. Our arms of flesh would often fail us.

However, standing at the shore a hundred yards away, the Lord could see the fishes on the other side of the boat. This is indeed amazing. Remember that He is the Lord. It could well be that He summoned the fishes there. So He asked them to cast their net on the other side of the boat. And immediately, they had such a high catch that they found it difficult to haul the catch in. This must have brought their mind to one other such occasion when an almost similar experience happened. Then they also acted upon the Lord’s instruction, dropped their net and caught so many fishes that their nets were near breaking. What happened was a sign to the disciples that this was the Lord at work and they recognized Him.

It was John who realized the Lord more quickly than Peter. He then exclaimed, "It is the Lord!" But it was Peter who was quicker to act then John. He quickly put on the garment that he had laid aside whenever he worked. And then plunged into the water and swam to the shore to where Jesus was standing. He left the rest to haul the catch to the shore. Peter did not care about the catch, he just needed the Lord. Like him, we must learn to prioritize between having the Lord and having His blessings only. Peter did not allow the blessings of the huge catch of fishes to prevent him from drawing near to the Lord. Like Peter, we must know that nothing is more important than drawing near to meet the Lord face to face.    

What has this account taught us? Firstly, that we need to be honest with what we are going through in life. It is necessary to come to the Lord to honestly appraise our work especially when we don’t seem to be making headway. We must learn to view our circumstances from the Lord’s point of view. More importantly, we need to act on His instruction with obedience quickly. Secondly, we must not allow the blessings he bestows on us to prevent us from drawing near to the Him to meet Him face to face. Thirdly, when we are reaching out and seeking to fish men for the Kingdom, we must learn to listen to His instruction. If we are to find the catch, we need to learn to cast our nets in the direction that He will instruct us. So draw near to discern His voice and then obey Him immediately.