Therefore, Humble Yourself

My fondest memories of my maternal grandfather are of the fishing trips he would take me on during the summers I spent with him while my dad was away on military service. He taught me how to fish, first with a cane pole. I then graduated to an opened-face reel which took sometime to master, trying to avoid backlashed lines because I didn’t put my thumb on the line in a timely manner.  Finally, I got to move to a closed-face spinner reel. I thought I was a professional grade fisherman when I got my first Zebco 33 reel and fiberglass rod.

It wasn’t until I was an adult however, that I experienced fishing with a cast net. It takes a lot more coordination to do that properly than you might think. You have to put a piece of the net in your mouth (that is not a typo). You hold it with your teeth and both hands. You then toss it as you release from your hands and teeth at the appropriate time so as to create a big circle with the net that allows your cast to cover the greatest expanse of water. Once the net has settled under water, you pull the draw string up, collapsing the net and hopefully pulling in the fish. It is a laborious task.

I have to believe that experience was in the back of the Apostle Peter’s mind as he pens the words of our text. He was a fisherman by trade. Read the story of John chapter 21. Peter new the exhaustion and frustration of a night of casting nets and coming up empty. All night long he fished as a way of escaping from his disappointment that Jesus had let them down. Jesus had died on the cross ending the hopes of an Israelite coup. Peter had shown his humanness in denying his relationship to Jesus just as the Master had predicted. Now some guy is on the shore trying to get something to eat and insulting his fishing expertise by telling him where to cast his net! Can it get any worse?

Peter humbled himself and thought, “What can it hurt?” and casts his net where he is directed. Eureka! His net is so full he cannot pull it out of the water. Greater still is the epiphany that it is his risen Lord, standing on the shore, guiding him and preparing to sit and eat with him. In the moments that follow, Jesus forgives Peter of his denials and challenges him to take the lead in caring for the followers of the Messiah. Blessings overflowing because he was obedient to the mighty hand of God.

In these days of frustration, heartache and disappointment take your net, bite down on it, cast it on Jesus and watch what happens. He will exalt you. He will care for you. He will meet your needs in such an abundance that you cannot reel them in by yourself. He will restore fellowship with you. Not that he ever left but, you might have lost sight of who he is like Peter did. “Cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.”