MY LAST NIGHT IN THE BOAT (Part 1)

MY LAST NIGHT IN THE BOAT (PART 1)

In John 21, you can read about Peter’s encounter with Jesus along the shore. This encounter with Jesus was life changing for Peter and shifted him into a life of truly being sold out for Christ. See just days before this destiny altering encounter, Peter had denied Jesus three times. Peter insisted he wouldn’t ever do that. When it came time for Jesus’ scourging and sentencing to the cross, Peter denied just like Jesus said he would.

This betrayal, denial, and turning his back on Jesus sent Peter into a time of mourning and self condemnation. Imagine the guild and shame he must have felt. After Jesus dies and resurrects from the dead, He appears to His disciples on several occasions. Can you imagine, what Peter is thinking every time the resurrected Jesus shows up and shares Kingdom revelation to them? He’s got to be thinking that Jesus is upset with him. Or that Jesus has lost confidence in him. Or that Jesus will never trust him again. We never read that Jesus ever shares anything to Peter about the three time denial. I’m guessing Peter is feeling at an all-time low during this time in his life. Jesus hasn’t even mentioned it and He knows what Peter did!

Peter feeling absolutley horrible goes back to the boat and starts fishing again. See, Jesus called him out of the boat three years prior and declared to Peter that he would be a fisher of men from that point forward. After realizing that he messed up that calling, Peter goes BACK to the boat.

Here’s my point: we can’t go back to the boat that Jesus has called us out of!

The boat = past hurt, sinful living, bondages, worldly mindsets, depression, stagnant Christianity, etc.

We must declare that this is our last night in the boat!

Here’s what happened to Peter when he went back to the boat. The same can happen to us as Christ followers when we go back to the places Jesus called us out…

1.       The Boat is a Place of False Security

·         No worries, no pressure but no purpose and no progress

2.        The Boat Caused Him to Lose Sight of His Dreams

·         Peter once saw himself being everything God told him he’d be, now he’s retracted back to an old situation and can’t see past the fishing pole

3.       The  Boat Now Limited Him to What He Once Conquered

·         Peter once walked on water (conquered it). Now he needs a boat to sustain him on the water he once walked on

·         He appears to be sustained but he was really sinking in his heart

4.       In the Boat He Casts His Net with No Results

·         In John 21, Peter catches nothing all night (verse 3)

Going back to old things causing emptiness and a drought