Without contacts or glasses, I’m functionally blind.

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock. For reference, the author cannot see the “E” without contacts or glasses. He sees a darker smudge on a white wall.

It’s hard to describe how bad my eyesight is unless you are very near-sighted.  Without contacts or glasses, everything is so blurry that I don’t really “see” depth.  I must hold something a few inches from one eye to focus on anything.

When I take my contacts out at night, I put my glasses on.  There are a few seconds when I don’t really see much.  I must clean and encase my contacts by feel and memory.  I reach for my glasses and put them on more by feel than sight.  Doing what I know I’m supposed to do is required whether it’s clear and focused or not.

Our walk with Jesus can be like that too.  It’s not always going to be clear.  But does a lack of focus mean we stop doing what we’re supposed to?

It’s been a long time since we were in John 1:1. Now, here we are, entering the final chapter of John’s Gospel.  Jesus has risen from the dead, appeared to His followers, and now the Holy Spirit inspires John to pen John 21:1-14.

Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee.  It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.  “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.
 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.”  When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.  The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.  When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”  So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.  Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.”  None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.  Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.  This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. 

John 21:1-4
New International Version

Jesus appeared to the disciples; we’re not told all their conversations.  Verses 1-14 tell us how seven disciples were called to follow.  They were at the Sea of Galilee, or Tiberius, as the Romans called it.  We have seen it several times in John’s Gospel, and once again, Jesus was about to show His glory around this body of water.

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock

The seven disciples went back to fishing and caught nothing.  It was night.  In John’s Gospel, “night” is not only overnight hours but also a reference to spiritual understanding.  They were not only fishing at night; they were, in fact, in spiritual night.

As morning broke, Jesus appeared on the scene.  They didn’t recognize Jesus.  Still, He tells them to put their nets on the other side of the boat—the right side—and they’d find some.  Why the seasoned fishermen would listen to a random stranger on the shoreline is beyond me.

They’d been up all night and, exhaustedly, decided to listen to Him.  It was similar in Luke 5:1-11 when Jesus first called some of these disciples to follow Him.

And when they obeyed, their catch was enormous!

When they finished and got to shore, the scene must have reminded them of that night at the Last Supper (“take and eat…drink…).  They were also called to follow that night, but they weren’t ready, and Jesus knew it.  But this morning, they were called to follow in a new way.  They were called to follow even though they lost focus.  

They should have been praying and waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit, according to Acts 1.  Instead, they were fishing and getting back to the only life they knew: a life before Jesus.  But this wasn’t what they were called to do.  They were not called to find something to do; they were called to be fishers of people.  They were called to be the Apostles—whether they felt ready or not.

Have you ever lost focus?  Have you ever gotten off track for what the Lord wanted you to do and gone back to your B.C—before Christ—life?   Jesus still calls you to follow even when you lose focus.  He still stands on the shoreline and calls you to the greatness He has created in you. 

Are you focused on Him?