"I'm Going Fishing" John 21:3

 
The words seem simple enough.  "I'm going fishing."  If I said them to my wife, they would mean something like, "I need a break and a little alone time."  If I said them to my friends or my brothers, they would be an invitation and if we are lucky, they might imply a fish fry later.  When Peter said, "I'm going fishing," however, they meant something more like, "I am a complete failure and I give up."

In the book of John leading up to this announcement, we have the story of how Peter denied Jesus and suffered from deep remorse and guilt.  Even though Jesus rose again from the dead, Peter could not forgive himself for denying his friend and Savior.  In his mind, he began to think that he had done the unforgivable.  Maybe his betrayal of Jesus had disqualified himself from whatever plans Jesus originally had for him.  Certainly his betrayal had disqualified him from whatever the plan was for the rest of the group.  

All of the disciples had been afraid when Jesus was arrested and executed.  The others had all run and hid.  Peter had followed at a distance, but when confronted had actually said, "I'm not with that man; I don't know that man' leave me the #*x$!!! alone."  And even worse than Peter knowing that in his friend's hour of greatest need he had denied their friendship, Jesus knew. How could Jesus ever trust him again?  How could he even look Jesus in the eye?  He was so ashamed.   

So, when Jesus rose from the grave, while the rest of the disciples rejoiced, after much thought, Peter made a decision.  Since he was no longer fit for service to Jesus, he decided that he had better get back to work and pick up where he had left off three years earlier when Jesus had first called him to follow. Peter had been a commercial fisherman.  So, Peter announced to the others, “I’m going fishing.” And to his surprise, six of the other disciples decided to go with him. 

In the big picture, this turned out to be a bigger issue than the betrayal.  Now, you see, not only was Peter walking away from Jesus and His calling on Peter's life, but Peter was taking others with him. Fortunately even though Peter left Jesus, Jesus did not give up on Peter and fully forgave and restored him.  It's beautiful story (John 21).

So, this fishing trip had a happy ending -still, there’s a lesson here for us.  Sometimes we tend to think that our thoughts and actions and beliefs and moral values are a personal matter.  We think that as long as we don’t hurt anyone else, it doesn’t matter what we do or what we think or how we talk.  But the problem is that life is not lived in a vacuum –everything we think and do and say affects other people.  There is no such thing as doing or saying wrong things and hurting only ourselves.  Whenever I do wrong or say something wrong, it hurts others.  
 
--> There is no way around it.  Our words and choices and actions influence others whether we want them to or not.  How we live matters.  We influence others.  

Lord Jesus, Thank you for the influence you have given me.  Help me to live in such a way that my words and actions and even my thoughts influence others to seek You and find You.  May my life lead people to You and never away from You. Amen.