Cast Your Net Over the Right Side
“Leaders of the people and elders: If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a cripple, namely, by what means he was saved, then all of you and all the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; in his name this man stands before you healed. He is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” Acts 4:9-12
So, he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So, they cast it and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. John 21:6
Piety
Here I stand, watching the tide go out
So all alone and blue
Just dreaming dreams of you
I watched your ship as it sailed out to sea
Taking all my dreams
And taking all of me
The sighing of the waves
The wailing of the wind
The tears in my eyes burn
Pleading, "My love, return"
Why, oh, why must I go on like this?
Shall I just be a lonely stranger on the shore?
The sighing of the waves
The wailing of the wind
The tears in my eyes burn
Pleading, "My love, return"
Why, oh, why must I go on like this?
Shall I just be a lonely stranger on the shore?
Study
The Lighthouse Keeper has not been much of a serious fisherman – certainly not like my grandfather nor my cousin Mike. However, most of my time fishing casually or recreationally has been in the early dawn hours. I think my grandfather thought that getting out early would allow us to catch the fish when they were waking up and were hungry for breakfast. (But also, before the waters of the Navesink River were too choppy with recreational boaters and swimmers scaring the fish away.)
Many of those early mornings were spent with nets and lines empty. You are cold. It is dark. You are getting wet. You are frustrated. You are hungry. You just want to be back in bed or in a warm kitchen with breakfast. Ironically, the disciples thought that fishing would be a return to their comfort zone. Instead, nighttime fishing was as frustrating as hiding from the Sanhedrin.
Maybe hiding from the Sanhedrin was one of the reasons why the disciples decided to go fishing at night. But, despite the years of experience, Peter had walked away from his boats and nets three years ago and it looks like he and his band of brothers are out of practice. They caught nothing. As dawn breaks, they make out a lonely stranger on the shore, a stranger whom they cannot quite recognize.
“Cast your net over the right side.” (I assume they were casting over the left side. Wherever the nets were, they were in the wrong place.)
Because they don’t know him, they have no idea if he is an experienced fisherman or not. Yet, the stranger yells out some advice and they follow the commandment. After a frustrating night of fishing, they could have easily said to themselves and to the stranger, we’ve tried that to no avail. We are giving up and coming in. They did not reject what the stranger said.
“Cast your net over the right side.”
Action
What are you finding this Easter season? Is that lonely stranger on the shore yelling something to you? Will you listen and return to Him or will you remain pre-occupied by other activities?
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