“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