Called Away

Called Away

February 4, 2019

John 21:3 "'I'm going out to fish,' Simon Peter told them, and they said, 'We'll go with you.'  So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing."

Before meeting Jesus, Peter was a fisherman by trade. Fishing was his profession, and that was all he knew. Enter Jesus. Jesus called Peter away from fishing and told him he would no longer fish but now be a fisher of men. Jesus called him out of his vocation as a fisherman and put him into ministry. He was called away from his former way of life. For the next several years, Peter was a disciple of Jesus and in full time ministry spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus had so many plans for Peter; He said that Peter was going to be a rock upon which He would build His church. Forget fishing, Jesus had other plans for Peter. Peter was no longer a fisherman, he was a rock.

But after Peter denied Jesus three times before the crucifixion, Peter forgot the new plans that Jesus had for him. He forgot He was a rock. Peter, somehow, decided that it would be better to return to fishing, even though God had called him away from that life. (This is the exact same position Peter was in when Jesus called him away the first time.) You'll read in scripture that after Jesus rose from the dead, He went to look for His old friend, Peter. And you know where He found Peter? Back at his old profession, in a boat, trying to catch fish. Peter didn't catch any fish this time either. He had spent the whole night fishing but to no avail. He couldn't fish anymore. He had forgotten that God had called him away from fishing, and fishing was no longer what God wanted him to do. Peter's efforts were futile because that was not what he was supposed to be doing. God's call on Peter's life still stood firm, and fishing was not it.

God has called each of us out of something and into a marvelous light. That light is the knowledge of Jesus Christ as our Savior and with it comes a new life. You cannot go back to your old life; God has called you out from it. You'll find that it is unfulfilling, empty, and futile. No matter whom you were or what you did, that is no longer you. You are a new creation. You have a new identity and with it something you are supposed to do. I don't know what that is for you, but you do. You know, as you read these words, what the Lord has for you and are well aware of the old life to which you so easily return. Recognize that your old way of life is unfulfilling. Continue walking in what the Lord has for you. Even if you failed the Lord, like Peter did, you cannot return to your old life. God still wants you to follow Him.

You've been called away from something and called into something else, a form of ministry that only you can fulfill. Just like Peter was called away from being a fisherman to become a rock on which the church was built, so you have been called to be something different for the Lord.  Jesus went to look for Peter again, and found him at his old way of life. Not only that, but Peter had taken others with him. Be carefully, if you decide to return to your old way of life that you do not invite others along. They have been called away from their former way of life, too. 

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Deut 7:6, Isaiah 43:10, Matt 4:18-19, I Peter 1:2, I Peter 2:9