We come to the end of John's Gospel and one of my favorite scenes. Peter has been out fishing after his three time denial of Christ. As usual, he doesn't catch any fish. Peter has to be one of the world's worst professional fisherman since he hardly ever seems to catch fish. The resurrected Jesus, whom they don't yet recognize, tells them to cast their net to the other side of the boat. Well, they catch a boat-load of fish and realize that the guy on the beach is the risen Jesus.
Verse 8 tells us that while they were about 100 yards away, slowly dragging that large catch of fish in a little boat, Peter jumps out of the boat and begins to swim the 100 yards to Jesus. Peter is so broken by his denial of Jesus and the intense days of depression he has just endured. So, he runs to Jesus with abandon. He abandons his boat, he abandons the lucrative large catch of fish, he abandons his pride, he abandons his comfort, he abandons his fears, he abandons his guilt, he abandons his depression and swims, kicks and reaches, for Jesus.
Lord, when I face those moments of guilt or depression, my temptation is to stay in the boat and feel bad for myself, eat a large pizza, and isolate myself from you and others. Instead, when I'm having Peter moments because of the hideous ways I may deny you, I will swim to you instead of distancing myself from you.
Jesus, I love you and want you more than anything else. In this Advent season, I scream out with all creation, come Lord Jesus come!
1 comment:
Amen, brother ... I've been leading my homeroom in a study of John since last year ... now we're up to His resurrection ... how wonderful He is that He would choose to live within my heart and love others through me. As He came two millenia ago, even so, LORD Jesus come! Merry Christmas, dear brother.
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