“No”

    In the last chapter of John’s gospel, the resurrected Christ appeared to seven of the disciples by the Sea of Galilee. Simon Peter went out to do some fishing and some of the boys joined him. They fished through the night but didn’t catch anything.  Each time they pulled in the nets, they were empty. What a bummer.


    Early morning now, and Jesus standing on the shore calls out to the disciples, “Children, have ye any meat?”  In other words, “catch anything?” They answered Him, “No”.  A simple confession. An admission of failure. The text says “they”, so I assume they all said “No”.    

    What if the Lord were to ask any of us the question, “Caught a soul lately?”  In other words, led anyone to the Lord lately?  I wonder if we would offer up excuses like, I’ve been awful busy, just haven’t had the time Jesus. Or would be honest enough to just reply, “No”.  What if the Lord were to ask us, “Have you been in the Word lately?”  Would we make excuses for skipping Bible Study, or would be simply confess, “No”?  I could go on with examples, but you get the idea.

    When these disciples answered the Lord’s question with a simple and honest “No”, it’s not the end of the story. On the heels of their admission of failure, Jesus says, “Cast your nets on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.”  They did just that and caught so many fish they could barely get them all in the boat.

    The more honest we are with the Lord, the greater our opportunity for success. We can never fool the God of Heaven anyway, so let’s just be real and authentic.  When He prompts us for an answer, give Him an honest confession.  We may be on the verge of success in our ministries, and it may begin with a “No”.

The Pastor’s Pocket

Written by: Pastor Bruce Freeman

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Are You Ready?

Image
It’s that time of the year when the animals are getting ready for winter. They make sure their nesting place is ready for hibernation. They are gathering food or eating a lot of food now to sustain them during the winter months.   In the mornings when we wake up, we get ready for the day. When we are expecting visitors, we get ready for their arrival. The airline industry works hard to make sure their planes are ready to fly. Athletes warm up to get ready for competition.   Jesus tells us to get ready because He is coming.  Are you ready for His return? We must be prepared, for one day the Lord will surely come. How can you be sure you are ready for that moment? (1) Make sure you are saved, born again. (2) Be serving Christ in some capacity. (3) Make sure you are doing the will of God. (4) Be a worshipper. Practice now praising the Lord because that is what you will do in heaven (Revelation 4-5).   Are you prepared for an encounter with the Lord today? Have you positioned yourself to m
Read more

Shopping Season

Image
Our daughter was shopping at a wholesale store recently and sent my wife this text, “Insane how packed it is on Wednesday afternoon!” My wife’s reply to her was, “Tis the season”. The busy shopping season has begun. It’s a great time of the year for retailers.  During this season as Christians, we mustn’t venture out without asking the Holy Spirit to fill us with patience and give us the strength to maintain a Christ-like spirit.   This is a shopping season when many people are searching for, hoping for, something that will satisfy a craving, fulfill a longing, or give them a thrill. For some it will be a party, alcohol, a new car, new clothes, a new boyfriend/girlfriend perhaps. For some, their happiness comes from a sale at the mall, and their many purchases. It’s a season when many are looking for a “high” which turns out to be only temporary.   Friend, there is a “high” you cannot buy. It’s righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). It’s not something temporal
Read more

Trusting God

Image
You’ve never really given a problem over to God until you completely trust Him with the outcome. Too much of our faith in prayer is tied to getting God to do what we think is best. We rejoice if God does what we ask or if He responds as we think He should. What if God has other plans? Is He any less faithful?   The truth is, God sometimes does have plans that differ from our own agenda.   As we pray, we must be willing to accept whatever God determines best.   That’s never easy, but it’s a place we must come to in our understanding of the Holy One.   We all know the story of the three Hebrew young men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and the fiery furnace.   The story is found in Daniel chapter 3.   An order had gone out from the Babylonian king that everyone in the province was to bow down to the golden idol, and anyone who refused would be thrown into a fiery furnace. I love the approach of these three men in Daniel 3:17, “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us
Read more