“When they got to the shore of the lake, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread. ‘Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,’ Jesus said … ‘Now come have some breakfast.” (John 21)
Food For Thought: What an unforgettable experience for the disciples! Jesus himself had baked some bread and barbecued some fish…now he invites the boys over for breakfast. I wonder what the conversation was like as they ate. I’m sure there was a lot of joy that morning—after all, their hero was alive. They’d seen him crucified just days before. Now he’d just help them haul in a miraculous catch of fish—not a bad thing for a bunch of fishermen! And then, the Lord of heaven and earth had cooked and had them over for some tasty eats! How cool is that! Perhaps the coolest thing about Jesus in this story is that he actually wants to have fellowship with his guys. Yes, he has a mission for them to accomplish: Win the world! But he also want just to be with them as friends.
One of the take-aways from this account is that Jesus is not just focused on our doing for him, he also delights in our being with him. If he were here physically today, I think he’d say, “Meet you at Starbucks.” He just wants to hang with us! Now the reality is that he’s not here physically (that day will come soon enough), but he is with us in another, quite real, dimension. And he still invites us to come away with him each day to spend some friend-time together. What a great friend we have!
On this day… in 1738, writing of his contemporary John Wesley, English revivalist George Whitefield penned in his journal, “The good which John Wesley has done in America, under God, is inexpressible. His name is very precious among the people; and he has laid such a foundation that I hope neither man nor devils will ever be able to shake.” Very gracious words from a Whitefield, a man who was once a classmate and close friend of Wesley’s, but now suffered the brunt of his extremely harsh and quite public criticism.
Prayer: Jesus, I want to have the kind of relationship with you that Peter and John had—not just as my Lord and Master, but as my friend, too! I want to spend time with you over a meal, to hang out with you in the beauty of your creation, to go fishing with you, to laugh over the things that tickle your funny bone, to do all the things that good buddies do. I never want to be disrespectful of your Lordship; as Lord, you are worthy of my honor and worship. But I want to know you as I think you intended for the human race in the first place when you walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Lord, that’s what I want! Will you bless me with that kind of experience with you—a close friendship? In the journey of my life, I want it to be said of me: “He was Jesus’ friend.”
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