The next fishYou see, I was studying about the miracles that Jesus performed during his life and after His death, burial, and resurrection which led me to the gospel of John, specifically chapter 21, verses 1 through 14. Jesus had recruited His disciples from many walks of life, several of them walked away from their family fishing business for they had already given up on getting chosen by a rabbi. He told them right out of the gate that He would send them out to fish for people (Matthew 4:19). These “fishers of men” had walked with Jesus for three years, learning a new way of life from God’s own Son. They were empowered to go out into the known world and share their faith with others…to lift the hopeless out of the pit of despair into a life no longer mastered by their sins and regrets. Fishing for men was going along well and Jesus told them many times that He would be captured and crucified…but it just wasn’t getting through their thick skulls. When it actually happened in 33 AD, the guys were confused and retreated from their mission. Jesus, in His resurrected form, appeared to them on various occasions…once along the Sea of Galilee while some of the disciples were out fishing in a boat. They had been fishing all night and had caught nothing while Jesus was on the shore cooking fish for breakfast. He instructed them to toss their net on the other side of the boat and when they did, it became filled with fish…so many that they couldn’t pull the net into the boat. They towed the net to shore…it was miraculously untorn and filled with 153 large fish. Although they didn’t recognize Jesus when they were out fishing, now that they joined Him on shore, they knew who He was. I believe this meeting with the Lord was a turning point for the disciples and a major lesson for us today. When they returned to their mission of fishing for men, the next fish…the next person to accept Christ as their Savior and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins, would have been fish #154. All of us who have done this are fish 154 until we share our story and our faith with someone else who joins us…then they become fish 154 in our lives. It’s all about the next fish…one five four.