One of my favorite stories in the Bible is after the resurrection, when Jesus appears to his disciples who have returned to fishing.

Simon Peter goes fishing and takes several of his disciple friends with him. They fish all night and end up with empty nets. Jesus stands on the shore and tells them to cast their nets on the other side. The Bible tells us that the crew did not recognize that it was Jesus when he was just standing on the shore, but after He spoke, John and Simon Peter realized who it was. The crew hauls in their catch and when they reach the shore again, there is already a fire with some fish. Jesus tells them to come have breakfast. At this point, the Bible says “None of the disciples dared ask him ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord.” (John 21:12, NIV)

I wondered what caused them to realize that it was Jesus. It could have been just hearing his voice or the miracle of the amount of fish they caught. Or maybe the fire shed a bit more lighting on His face. I would like to also suggest that it was the way that He served them. He didn’t say ‘I told you so’ or ask for a share of what they caught. He simply wanted to feed his friends breakfast. That was the character of Jesus, serving, loving and giving.

As we enter a season of complete chaos and business, I needed this reminder- to serve those that I love- and those that I don’t love. As the events unfold in the world around us, the world is looking for us to be true Christians, not just in name only. Our families are looking for us to be true Christians. Let’s love, serve, and forgive the way that Christ did.
~Shiney