John 21:3
“Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.”
Where did Jesus find James and John? Matthew 4:21 says, “And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.”
To say the least, James and John were not successful fishermen. Look at what they are doing—mending nets. Their catches must not have been bountiful, seeing they did not replenish their nets. They were mending old nets.
They are more than willing to forsake fishing and follow Jesus. Interestingly enough, when Jesus is crucified, we find the disciples in a conversation and from their answer, I can just about hear the questions, “What are we going to do now that Jesus is not here?” Peter has the ingenious idea, “I go a fishing.”
Many of us are just like Peter. When the chips get down, and our callings/endeavors seem like they’re not working, or we’ve come to a roadblock, wedge, or “No, or not yet,” what do we do? We return to past failures, bad habits, traditions, conducts, and customs thinking, “Surely this time it will work.” We, willing to pick up the un-mended, rotted nets, get in an unmaintained boat to push out to sea and catch what we did before Jesus found us—nothing.
Bad habits are like rodents. Before you know it, the reproduction and results of our action have produced too many depraved results. We are unable to survive. Does not the Scripture tell us our hearts are “stablished” through patience in James 5:8? Hold to the promise that all of it will work out just like the Word said it would.
Our prayer for you this week: May you come to realize that returning to bad habits has never been a breeding ground for success, only failure.
