John…on Love

Have you ever been so hurried and stressed that you didn’t know if you were coming or going? We all have those moments in our busy lives. But if we know Jesus, and ask Him to take over, He not only shows up, He sometimes will even “serve us breakfast” in the middle of life. When we least expect it, expect it.

It might be in the from of someone else coming alongside and doing something for you that relieves your workload. It might be someone who jumps in and helps you finish your work in half the time. It might be unexpected cancellation of a responsibility you didn’t have time for in the first place.

You see God knows our needs before we know them. We who aim to please God and others say yes more than we need and Jesus steps in to put margin back into our lives, relieving the stress we allow to enter in…in other words, He serves us breakfast. I thank God for His rescue in my life, even before I know I need it. He has “served me breakfast” many times and I want to thank and praise Him for that today.

In today’s passage I think of Jesus sitting on the beach, showing up, unexpected, telling His devoted followers where to fish for another miraculous catch AND serving them breakfast! That’s our Lord!

John 21, The Message
Fishing
21 1-3 After this, Jesus appeared again to the disciples, this time at the Tiberias Sea (the Sea of Galilee). This is how he did it: Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed “Twin”), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the brothers Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. Simon Peter announced, “I’m going fishing.”

3-4 The rest of them replied, “We’re going with you.” They went out and got in the boat. They caught nothing that night. When the sun came up, Jesus was standing on the beach, but they didn’t recognize him.

5 Jesus spoke to them: “Good morning! Did you catch anything for breakfast?”

They answered, “No.”

6 He said, “Throw the net off the right side of the boat and see what happens.”

They did what he said. All of a sudden there were so many fish in it, they weren’t strong enough to pull it in.

7-9 Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Master!”

When Simon Peter realized that it was the Master, he threw on some clothes, for he was stripped for work, and dove into the sea. The other disciples came in by boat for they weren’t far from land, a hundred yards or so, pulling along the net full of fish. When they got out of the boat, they saw a fire laid, with fish and bread cooking on it.

10-11 Jesus said, “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught.” Simon Peter joined them and pulled the net to shore—153 big fish! And even with all those fish, the net didn’t rip.

12 Jesus said, “Breakfast is ready.” Not one of the disciples dared ask, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Master.

13-14 Jesus then took the bread and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus had shown himself alive to the disciples since being raised from the dead.

Look at Peter’s reaction! Jesus wasn’t around, at least physically. Peter didn’t know what else to do but return to what he knew…to fish. Then Jesus appears and asks some very important questions that will change Peter’s life, taking Him farther down the road in fulfilling Jesus’ plan and purpose.

There is much more to the story here…tomorrow we will see the reason and plan for Jesus coming to serve breakfast to Peter and the others.

What do we learn today?

–Keep working at what you know until Jesus comes and tells you to be and do somethings else.
–God is always working in your life even when you don’t realize it.
–Jesus shows up and serves breakfast still…look for it, expect it!

Dear Heavenly Father,
We seem to be always on Your mind, thank you. Thank you for loving us with extreme grace and mercy. Continue to have the run of our lives. In Jesus Name, Amen. I believe.