The Petros Journals- The Account at The Fishing Dock

Greetings, 

Here is another glimpse of The Petros Journals; Memoirs from the Apostle Peter. This was the beginning of everything, the first encounter with Jesus. While Peter, Andrew, James, and John knew of Jesus, it was this story that became the first calling, the first step in a new direction for all four of them. 

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It was a day just like any other. I and the others were out and about doing things just as we’d done for quite some time. Fishing was our livelihood. We’d spent most of the night and early morning out in the boat trying our very best to gather the fish we needed to meet our quota for the day. It’s strange though, unlike the day before we simply weren't catching anything. My brother and I stood confounded. We had no idea where the fish had gone. It was the most unusual thing we’d ever experienced. I mean, we’d had our bad days before, but nothing like this. 

We kept throwing that net over the side of the boat with nothing to show for it. Our hard work was getting us nowhere. The day felt like it had been wasted and we were all ready to give up on our attempts. In fact, we had pulled back to the fishing dock and were mending our nets. We were giving up. Just as we were about to do this, a strange man came to the shoreline. The number of people following him was phenomenal. 

In an instant, he got into our boat and asked us to pull it out onto the water. It was a strange request, but Andrew, my brother, and I were curious. Once he was on the boat, we pulled out, and he started teaching everyone. After a few moments, he looked over to my brother and I and told us to take the boat even further out and then to cast our nets over to the other side. 

My first thoughts were, “are you kidding; this guy must be insane. Why on earth would I not have tried that already?” Of course, at the time, I had only my assumptions as to who this man was, but at that moment, I was infuriated. This man had come onto our boat and was telling us what to do. Anyone would feel as if this man were trying to interfere. 

Truthfully, my brother and I wanted nothing to do with him after that. I would never admit this to anyone when I was younger but, to be honest, one of us might have been tempted to throw him overboard. Thank the Lord we didn’t, because it was this moment that changed our lives. It was this moment that introduced me to the life that I was meant to experience.

If the four of us had not been there when this took place, our lives would have been missing a great deal. When Jesus asked us to go back out into the water, we were tired; we’d been out most of the night and early morning, working harder than ever to get the fish we needed. This guy just says to throw the net over to the other side, like we hadn’t tried that already. 

Who was this guy to think he could tell us how to do our jobs? The man continued to speak out to us, “Throw your net on the other side.” Low and behold, after a bit of reluctance, we did as this guy suggested and the result was just unfathomable. It was nothing short of a miracle. 

As we continued hauling the nets over the edge of the boat, the fish just kept coming. Nothing we could do would slow them down. When we finally emptied one net, another filled up again. It was enough to overturn the boats we were fishing in. 

Stunned, I looked over towards this strange man who’d been teaching in the crowd and all he did was stand there with the biggest smile on his face, just watching everything unfold. Who was this guy? At first, I wanted to smack the man, his smile was just too much, but something about him seemed different.

He wasn’t like everyone else, and the smile on his face wasn’t one of pride or arrogance, it was one that echoed a spirit of love and compassion.  From what I could tell at that moment, he genuinely looked as if he wanted to help us. I would never really say this to anyone else, but I was instantly drawn to him like I would be towards my brother. The compassion in his eyes and the love that came from his smile truly made me pause for a moment. It was only a moment, but the moment was there. Whatever it was that caught my attention that day never actually disappeared. 

This man had something I wanted in my life. To be honest, I couldn’t see what it was at first, but over time my desire to have what he had would grow. The one thing that I will always remember about my experience on the lake that day was what he did in the aftermath. Once we’d finally gotten back to the shoreline, I couldn’t help but come to him. 

My brothers and I were so taken by what we’d just seen that all we could do was- come. I’d heard much about this man we later learned was named Jesus, and honestly, I didn’t believe it. We went to him and just listened, he taught for what seemed like hours, and something began to spark in my spirit.

In the moments leading up to the last words he spoke to me that day, my mind wandered back and forth. My humanity struggled with my spirit, and my prideful ambition was beating me up from the inside. At first, we wanted to throw this man overboard because he was trying to tell my brothers and me what to do, but once we stopped and listened, we knew we wanted to follow him. 

In fact, once I realized who Jesus was, I fell to my knees before Him and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me, I’m such a sinful man.” I was awestruck by the number of fish we had caught, as were the others. I wanted to know what he was offering, and I needed to be a part of whatever he was doing.

 I still hear the last few words he spoke to us that day as clear as I heard them those many years ago and they are what I remember the most. “Don’t be afraid; from now on, I will teach you to be fishers of men.”

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Blessings in Christ and Thanks again for visiting us at "The Gathering Room."

"Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord." 45.3.20

M.J. Elliott