As He (Jesus) was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He noticed two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, throwing a dragnet into the sea, for they were fishermen. And He said to them, Come after Me [as disciples--letting Me be your Guide], follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men! At once they left their nets and became His disciples [sided with His party and followed Him]. (Mt. 4:18-20 AMP)
As we can see from the scripture above, Jesus selects some disciples and tells them that He has the blueprint for their lives and that He wants to be their guide from now on. He has a plan to teach them how to catch people – the core of His deep affection. Immediately they leave their nets and follow Him.
Ok, let’s fast forward some. Jesus has already been crucified and the stone over His grave has been rolled away. He decides to go and show Himself to His disciples so that they will really believe that what He taught them was the Truth – that He is the Son of God. And He does just that. On two different occasions He reveals Himself to them.
After all that takes place, the disciples find themselves standing beside the Sea of Galilee again (the exact place where Jesus originally called them to leave their fishing nets and follow Him). Perhaps they were reminiscing about old times when they were still catching actual fish??? I don’t know. But as far as they knew, Jesus was gone and they were left on their own.
Have you ever felt that way? Like the Lord has left you on your own? I know I sure have! But once again, watch as the Lord demonstrates that He is always with us, even when we’re not aware! He told us “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Josh. 1:5). When He says NEVER, He means NEVER. So check this out. Jesus was standing on the beach watching them fully aware of everything that was about to take place next.
"Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night." WHAT? What in the world just happened? Jesus had instructed them to fish for men, but after some time goes by, Peter convinces himself to get back in the boat to fish for fish - and the others follow. Did you notice that “they caught nothing ALL NIGHT?”
Ok, this part of the scene is hilarious! Jesus calls out from the beach “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” (My interpretation: “hey, how’s that workin’ out for ya!”) “No,” they replied. Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it. (Jn. 21:5-6 NLT) Oh my goodness! Guess who is sitting on the RIGHT-HAND side of our Father? JESUS! He is telling them to throw their net where HE directs because that’s where HE IS!
The disciples decided to come up with their own plan instead of following the Lord’s perfect plan. And it was fishless! Was fishing for fish a bad thing? No, of course not. Was it the RIGHT thing? No it wasn’t. And all their efforts were frustrated. “Many plans are in a man's mind, but it is the Lord's purpose for him that will stand.” (Prov. 19:21 AMP)
Jesus is trying to teach us a very important life-lesson. First and foremost, He is always with us and He will never leave us! Second, when we listen to Him and throw our net on the RIGHT-HAND side of the boat where He is, He will make sure that our net is full and overflowing! Without Him, we catch nothing. With Him, He gives us more than our beating hearts can handle!
Lord, help us to throw our net where You are, because that is where abundant Life is found!