The Gift at Dawn.

John 21:4-7
4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
5 He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?"
"No," they answered.
6 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.
7 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.

As a kid, do you remember your adrenalin rushing Christmas morning? I know I would struggle to stay in bed past dawn. I mean what kid isn't excited to open gifts? The last thing they want to do is wait for everyone to wake up and they certainly don't want to eat breakfast first!

For the disciples, when morning came it was a little different Well, they were excited that a dull night of fishing came to an end. However, they were feeling empty and discouraged that they would go away feeling like they wasted energy and were hungry.

This is where God comes into the picture. He presented the disciples with a surprising gift! It was a great number of fish and a feast on the beach with the Lord.

God called Peter for a large amount of fish. Realize that this was a big catch for Peter, but he left it behind because he was joyfully in awe at the Lord's presence. To Peter, nothing mattered other than being with Jesus. Now that's humbling!

Some things we just hold on to too tightly. Lord, help us to recognize that everything we possess is from you. Sometimes we have to sacrifice our possessions for time with you. May we make sacrifices so that you can use us in the world to fully portray your power and workmanship.

A little bit of a more rock and roll song theme today with "Hold On" by Abandon.



P.S. If you have trouble with the video stopping and starting, keep the video paused, and let it "buffer" (load) as it's called for a while. You will see the red bar along the bottom advance (speed depends on your Internet connection). Wait until that bar gets pretty far along (I'd say more than halfway) before you play the video and it shouldn't pause.