tin cans and old boots

Let me tell you about a guy. He's a good guy. He's a fisherman. A bit rough around the edges, but with a willing heart. He's had a rough couple of days, his good friend, a guy he really looked up to, admired and loved has been tried and executed for crimes he was innocent of.

So, this fellow, this fisherman, goes back to what he knows. Fishing. He and some buddies get out on the water, they lower their nets, they wait. And they wait. All night. And... Nothing.

Then the next morning they're heading in, and some dude on the beach hollers out to them:

"Catch anything?"

An emphatic

"no"

Is thrown back at him.

Dude on the beach says :

"throw your net over on the right side (or starboard)"

And despite the fact that the boys are tired, and discouraged, they do. And they fill their nets to capacity.

So our fisherman, Simon Peter (you may have heard of him), realizes that dude on the beach is really Jesus (also fairly well known) come back to life. Peter flings himself out of the boat and swims to see his friend and teacher. The boys drag in their haul, and everybody has breakfast on the beach. John 21:1-14

I don't always remember this story. But I like it. Especially because I was recently talking about a form of fishing with a girlfriend. About how sometimes we, as single girls, fish for attention from any man.

Peter used to be a fisherman, but Jesus gave him the new job of fishing for men. When Jesus died, Peter went back to what he had done before, it was a regress of sorts... I get that.

Even back at his old job, he's not doing so hot, not even one fish to show for his troubles... I get that.

And then Jesus comes back into the picture, and suddenly what Peter had gone back for was there in abundance, fish galore! But what he really needed, really wanted; to be with his Lord and friend, to have purpose and meaning and direction that was there as well and it was infinitely better.

Sometimes as a single girl, I get thinking about how I'm not married, and how I'd like to be married. How life hasn't gone exactly as I planned and things that I had hoped would happen haven't happened. And then I get side tracked and forget what I'm supposed to be doing.

I go back to fishing, fishing for a man, so to speak. And coming up with tin cans and old boots.

Until I get reminded that when I listen for my Jesus and trust Him with a willing heart, that not only will He provide the desires of my heart, but He comes along side me and gives me what is better. A relationship with Him, which lasts for eternity and is far better than even the prize winning fish.