John 21:2 – There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.

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.

John 21:4 – But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.

John 21:5 – Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.

John 21:6 – And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

Hello readers, what happens when the buzz has died down? You know, a really hard part of Christian life is what happens when the buzz has died down. What happens when real life hits? What happens in the daily grind? There’d been a lot happen in Jerusalem in recent times, but after all the excitement and uproar, after the emotional rollercoaster, after everything that had happened… Peter went back to fishing. This is what a lot of people do, they hear the gospel, they might catch fire for a short time, but soon enough, they’re just back to the old life, the old ways, the old fishing hole.

You know, God may have done some great things in your life, and your life caught fire for a period of time. And that’s great. God may have brought conviction and repentance in your life, and something got going. But what happened a week later? What happens when the buzz died down? Is there something more to what you claim you have? Is there more to your Christianity? There has got to be, or we just end up defaulting right back to our old life. That man at the pool of Bethesda… he’d been waiting 38 years to get into some troubled water! We spend a lot of our lives just waiting around, doing nothing and going nowhere.

Peter had promised to be with Christ to the end, but he ended up failing miserably. We set our mind to serve God, to obey him, to do better and all that… and all we end up doing is failing. Water gets poured on our fire. The fire goes out in us. What a thing to go back to the occupation from which you were called. Jesus years back had called them away from their nets to become fishers of men. But now they were back to their old fishing gig. So many Christians have an expiry date, there’s no endurance, there’s no continuance, because there wasn’t something more, there wasn’t something that happened internally in them.

The only way you will keep the fire going is if it wasn’t you that started it. See, after a long night of no fish… Jesus was on the shore and he had made a fire for them and prepared them a meal. What happens in your life has to happen because you are saved, because Jesus dwells in you, because he’s in you, you won’t go back and fizzle out into nothing over time. Something internal has to have happened in your life, otherwise all your new leaves, all your resolve to do better, all your hopes and dreams and delusions of grandeur… they’ll all fall flat in the end.

It’s fun up on the mountain, but how do we do in the valley? Many people shout for Christ on a Sunday, but how is it on Monday morning? We so quickly default back to the old way. There’s got to be more to our faith than a buzz, than a fad, than a burst of flame. There’s got to be a reality of a new person in us. What’s going to happen when the honeymoon is over? What happens when we’ve failed… is that it? It’s over? What happens when storms and adversity come? Is that going to knock you out of the game? What happens when you’ve been falsely accused, what happens when everything’s gone wrong? What happens when you’re the one who’s been in the wrong? There’s got to be more to our Christianity than just a fad or a passing fancy or a part time try before you buy seeing how it goes type deal.

So often we get to thinking it’s all about us, it’s about our faithfulness. But as we see in Peter’s life… and we do no better… our faithfulness often falls flat. A Christianity that is based on our wherewithal, on our energy and effort and power to produce… that’s going to fail every time. Abraham couldn’t produce the seed, it took God’s miraculous power to produce an Isaac. You see, it’s about God’s faithfulness, God’s performance of his promise in our lives. That’s why the old song says… great is THY faithfulness. Jesus was faithful to Peter when Peter wasn’t to him. Peter had determined to go as far as dying for Jesus… but he ended up vehemently denying Christ and weeping bitterly. For all his best intentions, for all his determination… Jesus was crucified on the cross. And it all seemed to have fallen flat. It’d all seem to have come to nought. But that’s why salvation is of the Lord, if your salvation and Christian walk is all about you… that’s why it’ll fail. It’s got to be the work of God in your heart.

Peter and his mates got back to fishing, but it was empty grind. They caught nothing. It’s quite a step backwards to go back to the old life. They caught nothing. Without Jesus Christ it’s empty work. You know, they didn’t find Christ, Christ found them. Jesus stood on the shore and called unto them. Cast it on the right side! We fail God, but he doesn’t fail us. He finds us when the buzz has died down, when all the excitement is over and we’ve fallen flat.  The fire has to be started by Christ in your life. He had started a fire on the shore and prepared them a meal. The old life is no life for the born again child of God. We have to realize salvation is all of the Lord. Service is of the Lord, we have nothing, we are nothing.

When we take over, it all falls flat. When it’s done without Christ, without obeying him, without him in the boat… it’s empty grind. We have to have more than just our performance… we have to have God’s performance of his promises in our life. We can’t produce, we don’t have the energy and power in us to keep the fire going, we need the power of the risen Saviour. Have you gone back to the old life? Did the buzz die down, did the excitement subside and you’re just back to the empty grind?

Only when the Holy Spirit is in you, when you truly got saved, will things keep going. Because it’s not you keeping things going, it’s Christ in you. We don’t have the faith or the power, we need to entirely trust in the Saviour who seeks us out before we sought him out. Maybe you’re back in the old craft, doing the old things, and you need to get back to the cross of Jesus Christ. We can only endure, we can only continue, we only make it, we can only live a life obeying and serving God, we can only finish well, if we are truly saved, if we are truly his.

Are you his? If you’re not his, you’re none of his the Bible says. You’re his when you believe on him, when you repent of your sin and place your faith in Jesus Christ. Not just to be saved, but to serve… to live every day of your life from now to eternity. Jesus needs to start the fire in your life, and that fire won’t go out. If you’ve kindled your own fire, it’ll be sure to go out, it’ll be sure to leave you in darkness. When the buzz has died down… what remains? We all need that foundation of Christ in our lives so that we are all seasons Christians, so we can run the race that is set before us… because we look unto Jesus Christ. He is the author and finisher of our faith people. He starts it, and he writes the last chapter. Your salvation has to be built on truth, it has to be built on a real saving faith in the risen Christ. Only that way will you keep going when the buzz has died down.

Hebrews 12:1 – Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Hebrews 12:2 – Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Blog Bible Christ Christian Faith God Gospel Holy Spirit Jesus Peter Salvation