Imagine a silhouette of a man, fully robed, jumping off a boat with the water below him and the shoreline in front of him. On the shore, you can see a small fire and the image of a man standing to the left of it with his arms open, as if to receive a friend. The sky behind him is just beginning to light up with the golden beams of light from the sun as it peaks it’s head above the horizon behind you. The man who has jumped appears to be heading straight for the man on the shore, but not in typical fashion. No, this man has come to realize what it means to abandon everything to follow the man on the shore. He no longer cares if he gets wet or what may happen to him along the way, for the man who has jumped off the boat wants nothing more than to love and be loved by the man on the shore. For the man on the shore is Jesus, and the man who has jumped is Peter, but it can also be you and me if we are willing to leave the boat.
You see, Peter had been through the full spectrum of emotions. He had believed with all of his heart that he would follow Jesus straight into battle. He had believed he would be willing to lay down his life and die by the sword if he must. Ahh, but the battle was not a physical one, it was a spiritual one, and the laying down of his life had much more to do with trusting in Jesus no matter the circumstances, than it did with a physical death (though that would come later). Peter had to let go of what he thought life was all about, and cling to what Jesus told him it was all about…which turns out to be one in the same; life is all about Jesus (the WAY, and the TRUTH, and the LIFE).
Once Peter realized this, his life began to change dramatically. So many things started to make sense. That night of fishing was a night of soul searching for Peter. Was he going to cling to the life he had known before Jesus, or was he going to chase after the reckless, unsafe, unpredictable, passionate, amazing, rewarding and fulfilling life he came to know with Jesus?
When Jesus called out to the boat and told them to throw their nets on the other side of the boat, Peter didn’t recognize his voice. Peter was still deep in thought, what was he to do? But when John recognize that it was Jesus and exclaimed, “It is the Lord!” (John 21: 7), Peter knew in that instant what he wanted. He wanted Jesus more than anything. As he leaped off that boat, he forever left the life he once knew, for the life he now had in Jesus Christ, and that leap made all the difference in the world and to the world, for Peter’s testimony still rings in our ears…
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.” I Peter 1: 3, 4
Peter knew what it was to be given a new birth into a living hope. Once he claimed that truth in Jesus Christ, he never looked back.
It is my prayer that all of us would have the courage to leave the boat, our lives before Jesus, and cling desperately to the living hope we now have in Him. Because He was resurrected and is now alive, we may have a walk with Him that is rich, that is real, and yes at times is reckless, unsafe and unpredictable, but that is also amazingly passionate, rewarding, and full.
May God bless you and keep you, and may you be willing to take a leap of faith into the puddle of His mercy, love, and grace.
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