Glorifying God Through Blessings

"Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, 'I am going fishing.' They said to him, 'We will go with you.' They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, 'Children, do you have any fish?' They answered him, 'No.' He said to them, 'Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.' So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. The disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, 'It is the Lord!'... The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off." - John 21:2-8

This is a story that most Christian's are familiar with. It's a common sunday school story that is taught with simplicity. In sunday school, they usually simply teach about how Jesus was able to make them catch fish and that is the extent of their study. But I wish to go a bit deeper.

Seven of the disciples were together and Jesus had risen from the dead and appeared to them twice already. The seven disciples decided to go fishing, which was how they would feed themselves. Today, fishing is more of a recreational sport in America, but then, they had to catch something if they wanted to eat. So that makes sense that they were out there from nighttime to the break of the next day, because they weren't catching anything.

Now as day was breaking, a man on the shore (Jesus, but the disciples didn't know who it was yet) asked the seven disciples if they had caught anything. They said "no" and Jesus told them where to cast their net so that they could catch some fish. Once they had done what he said, they caught so many fish that they couldn't get it in the boat but held it in the water as they brought it to shore. After catching the Fish, the disciples realized it was Jesus and rushed to him; Peter even jumped out of the boat, and the others came in dragging the fish.

Here's the point. In life, we get gifts, wether we are Christian or not. We are happy whether we are Christian or not. We get depressed whether we are Christian or not. But only when the Christian gets a gift, can he praise the gift-giver--God. You see, gifts aren't meant to be an end in themselves, they are meant to lead us back to the kindness and love of the one who gave it. When God blesses us, it is meant for his glory and not to be an end in itself. When the disciples got the fish, they rushed to Jesus in excitement. They were happy and joyful about the fish, but they were even more excited about being in the presence of the one who had given it. So much so, that Peter started swimming.

However, the disciples had to wait a long time to receive what they had been hoping for and in order to receive it, they had to do as Jesus said. We often have to wait patiently for gifts to come to us. Unfortunately, we are an impatient people. God has a plan and will give us what we need when he wants us to have it. If the disciples had caught fish before Jesus came up and the storied continued the same, the miracle of catching fish would not be very surprising. It's because the disciples hadn't received all night that they were so joyful to receive. Often times, God wants us to wait to receive so that the joy of getting the gift is so much greater. The disciples also had to listen to Jesus and do what he said in order to receive their gift.

The last thing I want to bring up is how difficult it was for the disciples to actually take in their gift. So many times, God gives us things, but we think it is too difficult or too strenuous to actually go through with receiving this gift and so we simply let go and don't make an effort to drag it to our Lord. When you receive a gift, don't hesitate, but drag it to Jesus, no matter how heavy, and ask "how can I use this to further glorify you?"

Again, gifts are not meant to be an end in themselves, they are meant to lead us back to our great creator. It's not what you receive that matters, it's what you do with what you receive. If you suffer, rejoice. If you are blessed, rejoice. If you are killed, rejoice. If you are joyful, rejoice. Christian's should be ready to rejoice for the sake of the Father in every situation no matter the cost. Glorifying God is first priority, even at the sake of a life.