Reason #826

Aaron and I went to the Casting Crowns concert Friday night. I actually saw them two years ago, and I really enjoyed both occasions. All of their songs are inspired by true life events and stories of people they know, and I really appreciate getting to hear the inspiration behind each song. One of the songs talks about Peter throwing the nets over the boat but never catching any fish. This was actually how Jesus found Peter in the first place. Peter was in his boat, basically having a bad day at work, and Jesus showed up to change that. After Peter listens to Jesus and throws his nets on the opposite side of the boat to catch a ton of fish, he makes the decision to follow Jesus. Now Peter is kind of the crazy disciple. The one who is always ready to react at a moment’s notice, often times without thinking of the outcome. But in that instant, Jesus had given him more than enough reason to desire to follow along, and it’s a good thing Peter agreed to.

 

Peter gets to experience Jesus in a lot of cool ways. He walks on water, he sees Jesus heal the sick, raise the dead, and feed the five thousand. He gets to witness Jesus’ ministry from the start to the end. In fact, He even sat in the garden with Jesus the night before Jesus’ death, so Peter had stood beside Jesus the entire time. But just as things are really heating up, Peter messes up big time. I mean big, big, big time. After promising Jesus he would always be faithful to follow Him, he ends up denying Jesus in His most desperate how. Not once, not twice, but three times. A sure confirmation that he meant what he said when he denied His Savior. And so I can image that Peter felt lower than low. Completely humiliated, embarrassed, discouraged, and worthless. I am sure he felt beyond repair. I bet he thought, “I gave it my all and this is how I ended it?” And for those three days, as Jesus died and was buried, I bet Peter thought his life was over. It amounted to nothing. And he found himself right back in that boat, fishing, just like he was when Jesus found him.  

 

But notice who shows up on the shore looking for Peter. That’s right, Jesus reincarnate. Jesus in the flesh. And Peter, being so wrapped up in himself, doesn’t even realize it at first. But then Jesus tells him to drop his net on the other side of the boat, and when he pulls up all of those fish, it clicks. This was how Jesus had called him out the first time, and here he was doing it again. Peter doesn’t wait to row his boat back to shore to see Jesus. He doesn’t yell out, “Hold on, let me work a little longer and I’ll be over to see you in a bit.” He dives into the water, swimming towards His redeemer because Peter realized he had been given a second chance, and the joy of his redemption is overwhelming.

 

Sometimes we feel like God might not care about what happens to us, right? Like maybe he kind of forgot about us, or maybe that he intentionally overlooked us because of something we had done. Maybe we feel like Peter. It’s too late. We’ve ruined it. And we find ourselves back at square 1. All of that hard work, lost. All of that time, wasted. We had our chance and we blew it. How could we ever fix it even if we tried? How could we ever take it back or change what was done? We, ourselves, can’t.

 

But Jesus takes us back. Back to where He found us. I don’t know where that was for you, but for me, it was in my most desperate hour on my knees. And I realized that I had my work cut out for me. I realized that I had a lot of unfamiliar territory calling my name if I was ever going to regain what was lost. Yet I also realized I wasn’t going to have to do it on my own. Because Jesus had shown up when I needed it the most to remind me that it is never too late. Nothing is wasted when we commit our lives to Him. Sure, we may have endured some hard blows but it can be fixed. No, we can’t erase what happened, but we have a spotless future because Jesus washed away our sins. And so He redeems and restores us. He calls us out again and lifts us up when we’re paralyzed by fear. He gives us another chance. Another opportunity to lower our nets and receive abundant blessings. Jesus cares. He wouldn’t have died if He didn’t. So lift your head, lower your nets, wherever you are, and be prepared to experience healing and joy like never before.

 

#826 - For a second chance to lower our nets.

 

"When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.” For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him... Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus." - Luke 5:8-11