This post is a little longish; however, the principle of overcoming failure must be seen in its full context for complete understanding of what God wants us to know .... Thanks for reading!
I Go A Fishing (How to
Overcome Failure)
This
sequence of events reminds me of an instance when Jesus was questioning Peter as
to his love for his master. Jesus had just shown Peter and the other disciples,
by way of a miracle, what His purpose was for their lives. I don’t want you to
miss this, so put on your spiritual thinking cap. In John 21:3, Peter had quit on the Lord. When he quit, he influenced
Thomas, Nathaniel, and two other disciples to quit with him. He went fishing and
caught nothing, nada, zip, and zero – zilch. He fished all night and did not
catch a single thing – not even a crab.
In
John 21:5-6, Jesus appeared on the shore (He had already ascended
and come back to appear to over five hundred people), and instructed them to
cast their nets on the “right” side of the ship. He said that if they would do
this, they’d find what they were seeking. They did as they were told, and to
their amazement, they caught so many fish that they were not able to draw in
the net; therefore, they had to carry it on the side of the boat until they
reached the shore.
They
caught 153 fish; that
number is significant to our discussion. The number (9) represents fruit bearing in the Bible. If
you add (1) plus (5) plus (3)
– you have (9).
Therefore, the number 153 can represent fruit
bearing.
Another
way you can extrapolate truth from this passage is by defining the three numbers in question.
The number (1) stands for
unity throughout the Bible. The number (5) means death/grace, and the number (3) is the number for the Godhead. So, what
does that mean? As we are unified
(#1) in our purpose, and choose to die to the desires
of the world (#5), then we can glorify God (#3) by producing fruit that remains (#9—the total of 1+5+3)).
We
will look at Biblical numerics more closely when we arrive at that particular
rule of Bible study. But we know this is the case because of the
context of the verses in
question. You’ll see the principle come to life in the following pages. One
would have to be spiritually blind to miss what God is teaching us through this
story.
Skinny
Fishing
They
did not know that the person who instructed them was Jesus until verse seven. Peter,
being told it is the Lord, puts on his garments
(for he was fishing with no clothes on – naked), jumps into the water and swims
to the shore.
Running Tip: Don’t miss the fact that Peter did not want to be found naked and ashamed at the presence of
his Lord. He was naked.
The Greek word for naked is gummos, and it literally means nude. He put
on his garments so that he
would be properly clothed.
To
get our minds around what is happening here we must understand that in the
Bible, garments are a type of how
people spiritually live their lives. We either wear the garments of praise, or the garments of a life soiled by the sinfulness of the world. Notice
the following verses for clarification of the garments teaching.
Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my
soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of
salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
Jude 1:23 And others
save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by
the flesh. Ezekiel 18:7 And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to
the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to
the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;
Come
and Dine; He’s Already Prepared the Table
In
John 21:9-11, Jesus is
preparing a fire so that they can cook the fish that
they just caught. I’m going to show you the purpose of God in the form of this
illustration, so please put on your spiritual ears. Verse nine says that “they saw a fire of coals
there, and fish laid theron, and bread;” Jesus
told them to bring him the fish they had just caught.
Keep in mind that not all the Bible was written ABOUT you,
but it was all written FOR and TO
you.
The
lesson that Jesus was teaching these backslidden disciples is incredibly
practical to our lives, especially today. Coals are a picture of purity (Isaiah 6:5-7), fish are a picture of those
we are to free from the false reality (Matthew 4:19) and bread
is a picture of the Word of God
(John 6:35).
I
believe Jesus is simply teaching His disciples that He had not given up on
them; if they would purify their lives by finding their nourishment in the Bread of life He would bless them in their
efforts to be fishers of men as they
dine (sup .. remember this word?) with Him on a daily basis. You know the rest
of the story, and that is exactly what transpired in the lives of the disciples.
In only seventeen years, the entire known world had heard about the saving
grace of Jesus Christ through the lives of men nourished in His word!
Feed
My Sheep
Now
for the key that unlocks the power of this story. After they had dined (supped/fellowshipped)
with the Lord, Jesus asked Peter the following question – “lovest thou me more than these?”
With a puzzled look on his face, Peter answered the Lord by saying – “Yea Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.” Then Jesus said
to Peter – “Feed my lambs.”
Jesus asked Peter the same question again, and to that question, Peter gives
the same answer – “Yea Lord; thou
knowest I love thee.”
This time Jesus tells Peter to feed his sheep.
In
verse seventeen Peter realized why Jesus is questioning him; it grieved his
(Peter’s) heart. Jesus was asking Peter if he loved (agapao) Him,
and Peter was responding by saying that he loved (phileo) Him,
too. God was looking for an agapao love. This is the greatest
kind of love that can be displayed. It is a love that will willingly give one’s
life for another. It is a Godly love.
Peter
responded two times by saying that he had a sincere, friendly love for Jesus (phileo).
Peter, now understanding what the question really is said, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest
that I love (phileo)
thee.” Peter now understood that God knew that he needed to develop an agapao love for the Lord
in order for him to be successful in His purpose. The same is true for you and me,
if we are to be relevant and powerful ambassadors for Christ to our worlds of
influence.
Running Tip: God can’t lead us if we
don’t understand the price that is to be paid. He is looking for people
that will finish the race that is set before them.
Quitters
are a dime a dozen; God is seeking people who will commit to be winners, so He
can invest His power into them (Acts. 1:8).
Love
Has a Price
The
reason that this line of questioning is so significant is because Jesus knows
that Peter is going to have to surrender his life for the cause of Christ. He
wanted Peter to know what kind of love would be necessary to stand up for the
truth.
In
John 21:18-19, Jesus
tells Peter that, one day, “Another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither
thou wouldest not.” Someone is going to take Peter where he does not
wish to go, all because he is successfully freeing minds from the control of
the false reality of this life. Jesus punctuates this illustration by
impressing on Peter to “follow thou me,” without regards to the plan He
(Jesus) had for others (specifically, John), from the pitiful philosophy that
we see coming out of churches today.
Many
churches today are spewing out the itchy-ear
line that says God wants you to be happy.
But, it is important that we define true happiness.
Running Tip: God wants you to be
willing to fulfill his will, and that your happiness would come from
knowing that you were a vital partner in the Lord’s effort to bring an
end to the war, eradicate the scourge of sin, and usher in the universal
kingdom of peace (Revelation nineteen).
Our
lives can’t be driven by Purpose if we don’t know the specifics of that purpose
– no matter how popular a book may be.
It takes more than forty days to achieve true purpose; it takes years,
if not decades, of faithfulness to God’s plan for man.
Our
Commander (Jesus Christ) is seeking spiritual leaders who will do what is right
and fulfill the purpose for which their position dictates. He is seeking
pastors who know why they do what
they do, and how that knowledge will
affect our lives, this earth, and the universe – for all eternity.
As
Dumbledore told Harry in the book titled, The Goblet of Fire, (Remember:
learn to throw out the bones and eat the
meat of any story or book. We are to be
IN the world while not begin OF it.) “There
is coming a time when we will need to choose between what is right … and what
is easy.”
It
is my aspiration to help you prepare for that eventuality; it is at our doorstep. If you haven’t been there and done that, how
can you lead someone down a path you’ve never trodden; it’s impossible! The following practical Principles will help
you do just that.
Live OUT LOUT!
Mark Harrell - Habakkuk 2:2
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