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nothing.” When they go to Galilee they aren’t sure that is the
right place. How long would you wait if Jesus didn’t show up?
Would you wait a week? Would you wait a month? Would you
think you were in the wrong place? They waited and waited
and waited and finally Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”
Many commentators think that when Peter said, “I’m
going fishing,” that he was quitting his life as a Christian. When
he first met Jesus he left his boats and his nets. Some think,
“Now he’s going back to the old vocation.” But we know why
he was there. He came to see the risen Christ. If Matthew was
the spokesman and said, “I’m going back to tax gathering,” I
would think that maybe he was giving up on being a Christian.
If the apostle Paul was there and said, “I’m going back to
persecuting Christians,” I would understand that he was giving
up.
I think when Peter said, “I’m going fishing,” it was
different. I think Peter was saying, “That’s all I know. I’m a
fisherman. That’s what I do. That’s my life. That’s my trade.
From a little child I was brought up as a fisherman.” Peter
might have said, “I don’t know if this is the right place. I don’t
know if this is the right day. I don’t know if this is the right
time. I have no idea when He is going to show up. So, I’m
going fishing.”
I think what he had in his mind is that he was going to be
who he was. He wasn’t giving up on the Lord and he wasn’t
going back on the Lord. He knew he was forgiven but I think
in his heart he felt disqualified to ever be used by the Lord
again. He had denied the Lord. Jesus told him that someday he
would be a fisher of men. I think he gave up on that. But in his
heart he had come to see the risen Savior. He loved the Lord
Jesus. So, he says, “Until He shows up, I will just do what I
do.”
Brothers and sisters, what are we supposed to do until
Jesus shows up? Let me give you the first answer to the Great
Commission; go fishing. In other words, just live. Be
yourselves. Fishing represents Peter. Until the Lord shows
Himself to you, be who you are. God has ever only wanted two