Cast your nets!

Today we continue our special series The Chosen, this time with the testimony of Pierre. As always, at the end I will end with a word of encouragement. I leave you with his testimony.

All my life I've been known to be a stubborn person, which I have to admit is true. My character got me in constant trouble, and I often made the worst decisions.

Before meeting Jesus, my faith was at an all-time low. I guess after waiting so long for the Messiah, I had lost all hope, and I got further and further away from my faith.

I made bets, fights where I fought for money, etc. I even went to work fishing on the Sabbath! My situation was totally desperate, my debts exorbitant… and I really didn't know what to do.

I will always remember that night when I went out to do the only thing I knew well: fishing. I had hoped to get a good catch in order to repay some of my debt, and thus be able to escape prison. But that night, I didn't catch anything.

My brother André and the sons of Zébédée had also come with me, but despite their help, we hadn't caught anything, not a single fish. I could not any more. I was exhausted, desperate, exhausted...

However, everything changed upon reaching the shore. It was there that I saw Him for the first time: Jesus was teaching a crowd by the water. He asked me if He could use my boat to allow Him to be heard better. Given the state I was in at the time, I admit that was the last thing I wanted. But my brother André hadn't stopped talking to me about this man, and it's true that something special in his eyes caught my attention, so I accepted.

Once in the boat, He went back to preaching, and His words were not like those of the other teachers: They had authority. His teaching finished, He looked at me and said: “Cast your nets”.

I was going to let Him know of my displeasure by telling Him about our deplorable fishing of the night... but since He had asked me, I decided to listen to Him. That's when the impossible happened: in seconds, a mountain of fish filled our nets, to the point where we needed help getting them all back on the boat.

I had just witnessed a huge miracle! Filled with the fear of God, I knelt down before Jesus and said, “Lord, depart from me, for I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8, BDS), but He asked me to follow Him!

Not only had I been freed from my debts, but I had just met the long-awaited Messiah.

My name is Simon Peter, son of Jonas, and I was chosen by Jesus.

My friend, maybe your character or your bad decisions have also led you into a difficult situation, and it takes away your desire to do anything, even to celebrate Christmas! But Jesus has the power, even today, to transform your situation, and to open paths where it seems impossible. Come into His Presence today, and intentionally lay all your worries on Him, for He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7, S21).

You are a Miracle!

Christian Misch

This article is a repost of the One Miracle Every Day daily encouragement email. If you would like to receive A Miracle Every Day for free by email, click here.