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.
John 21:3
In the words of pastor and Christian apologist, Timothy Keller:
“The Bible says that our real problem is that every one of us is building our identity on something besides Jesus.”
As humans, we so often trust our own experience, expertise, education and efforts- leaning into our own abilities and understanding and finding our worth within our God-given gifts rather than looking to our creator.
Modern culture places so much emphasis on worldly values such as outward appearance, accolades, bank account balances and professional titles. We fill our lives to the brim with seemingly good things but can still can feel empty and unsatisfied.
God, however, with His eternal perspective and fatherly wisdom, looks at the heart.
As believers, our hope and our identity comes from Christ Jesus alone. Like Simon Peter experienced despite being a seasoned fisherman... As long as we seek our self-worth in worldly pursuits or even our own abilities, our nets will continue to come up empty despite our best attempts to fill them.
Only when we look to God as our source, can we experience true abundance and be filled to overflowing.
Jackie Tait '05