There’s a story in the Bible of Jesus instructing some fishermen to try fishing from the other side of the boat. Imagine that, a carpenter giving fishing lessons to commercial fishermen.
The amazing thing is once they moved to the other side, they caught a boatload of fish. It was as if Jesus was trying to get their attention — and it worked.
In fact, it worked so well, he did it twice!
The first time was early in his ministry, when he was looking for disciples. He definitely got their attention, because they immediately left everything to follow him.
The second time was at the end of Jesus’ ministry, after he rose from the dead, but before he returned to heaven. The fishermen-turned-disciples didn’t know what to do after they saw Jesus die, so they resorted to fishing, but caught nothing.
Jesus hollers for them to try fishing from the other side of the boat. They did and another miraculous catch occurred. Again, he got their attention — and they believed he was alive.
Twice Jesus got their attention. The first time they followed him and the second time they believed in him.
[Luke 5:4-11 and John 21:4:14]
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
