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.
John 21:7 NIV

In John 21, the best friends of Jesus (called His disciples) had gone fishing. They had been fishing all night, and they’d been shut out. They didn’t have one fish to show for their efforts. As the sun came up, Jesus came walking down the shoreline and yelled,

“Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some fish!”

The disciples had nothing to lose, so they tried it, and instantly the net was bursting with fish. John quickly realized that it was Jesus on the shore, and said to Peter,

“It’s Him!”

Peter nearly lost his mind. He threw his windbreaker (his outer garment) on and jumped into the water, swimming as fast as he could towards Jesus.

What I love about this story is that when Peter saw Jesus, God in the flesh, he jumped. He didn’t sit in the boat and say,

“No biggie, it’s only Jesus. I’ll see Him when the boat eventually makes it to shore.”

No, Peter jumped. He didn’t wait to see if the boat would make it. All he could think of was getting to Jesus as fast as he could.

Many people, including myself, would probably have played it cool. I probably would have been the guy who said,

“Calm down Peter; we’ll get there eventually.”

Who wants to swim in their clothes anyway? That’s just straight-up uncomfortable.

But getting comfortable and waiting for the boat to reach shore is exactly where the enemy wants you.

Many of us have said yes to Jesus, but we have gotten comfortable. Getting comfortable is when you stop growing. Getting comfortable is when you stop impacting this world with the love of Jesus. It may not always be easy to jump in and start pursuing Jesus, but it’s only in making the jump and moving towards Him that we find He is cooking up something good! (John 21:9) So get started! 

— Pastor Jon Rychener

Reflect

Take some time to reflect on these questions:

Are you too comfortable in your spiritual journey? 

Where do you need to jump in and get started?