Boat For Sale: Free

I love to fish. I'm not a very good fisherman, but I do love it. I love waking up early, putting the boat in the water, I love the quiet mornings, and the beautiful trees that line the shore, but most of all, I love to land big fish.

A month ago I was fishing with a buddy of mine, Brandon. He is a good fisherman. Nobody was catching a thing, but Brandon hooked into a 23 inch Rainbow that was thick. My adrenaline rushed, and I was happy to help him land it. I picked it up to take a better look at it and the beast was so big the line sliced through my finger and left a cut for 3 weeks. I enjoyed having it in my boat, but I still wanted one of my own.

One reason I love reading stories about the disciples is that many of them were fisherman. They probably loved it for many of the same reasons I do. But when Christ came calling, He asked them to put down their nets and follow Him (Matt. 4:18-20). And Peter, along with his brother Andrew did it. That is amazing. Did Matthew leave something out? Did it really go down like that: "Hey, you guys, put down your nets, we are going to fish for men." "Ok stranger, I will follow you." What was it exactly that Christ was asking them to do? I think he wasn't telling them not to fish, I think it was more than that, Christ was calling them to forget who they thought they were (fishermen) and pick up a new identity, one firmly planted on the foundation of who they were in Christ.

The thing I can relate to is the fact that after Christ died, Peter picks the nets back up and starts fishing again. Too often in my own life, when I have doubt, when I'm not sure, I don't look to Christ, I look for the old way, the way that used to work, I go back and pick up my nets.

I can picture it: Peter and Andrew are sitting around wondering what just happened the last 3 years and start thinking, "let's do a little fishing to clear our heads, get our mind off of all of this and relax." But they end up not being able to catch a thing. It may be slightly pathetic, but when I go fishing, I think my own self worth is wrapped up in whether or not I catch fish, so I'm guessing when Peter and Andrew didn't catch anything, they weren't able to relax. That is why when this far off character (Jesus) yells to them to throw their nets out the other side of the boat, they actually do it. And, as usual, Jesus comes through with a miracle, 153 fish! Peter then jumps in the water and swims towards Jesus. After fixing Peter breakfast, Christ asks him: "Do you truly love me more than these?" (John 21:15) Donald Miller in his book Searching for God Knows What suggests that "these" in Christ's question is not the disciples, but the fish. In other words, Christ might have been asking Peter, "Didn't I tell you to follow me?"

I should know who I am in Christ, but instead I keep going fishing. I search for my identity in how many fish I catch, how funny I am, how smart I am, how athletic I am, this is what I look to to "define" me. But when I am looking to Him, and am solid in His purpose for my life, I can rest easy knowing that it doesn't matter how many fish I catch.

I have denied him more often than Peter, but Christ is patient. I have times where I just want to pick back up my nets, but Christ is patient. So I remind myself each day to look vertically.

I am however, giving my boat away.