“Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find a catch” (John 21:6)

After the death on the cross of Jesus Christ, Peter and some of the disciples, in their despair, decided to go fishing. Fishing was something that they knew, a safe place, and old way. They may not have liked it anymore, but they were used to it. They fished all night and caught nothing. At daybreak, the resurrected Jesus appeared on the shoreline. Knowing that they caught no fish, He asked them if they caught anything. Jesus was really trying to get them to see that because they were doing something their way, their effort, not of the way of Jesus… there would be great effort but no results! Does that sound like any of us?

Thank God that He does not leave us to our own effort. Without Him, we will always “catch nothing”… despite the massive effort on out part. He told them to cast the net on the right side. I don’t know which side was the right side, as opposed to the left side, but whatever side they were on was the wrong side! Once they obeyed Jesus, they soon found their nets close to breaking because of all the fish they now caught. At this miracle, they knew it was Jesus. Peter jumped into the water and swam to Jesus… I believe he couldn’t swim fast enough! When he got to shore, he found a meal Jesus prepared of fish and bread and responded to Jesus’ invitation to come and eat breakfast.

When they stopped doing things their way and obeyed the Words of Jesus, not only was there great fruit to their efforts, but also, they were nourished by what Jesus had prepared for them. Let us learn this lesson this day. Is your work filled with self-effort yielding little if anything? Or, are the things you do led by God’s Word that will yield much fruit? As we obey him, we will be nourished and fed by what He has prepared for us… and never be hungry or thirsty again!