Jn.21:9-11 – So when they got out on the land, they *saw a charcoal fire already made and fish placed on it, and bread. Jesus *said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have now caught.” So Simon Peter went up and hauled the net to land, full of large fish, 153; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.
When you follow the Lord in His plans for your life there will always be “breakfast on the beach”. The disciples were just trying to sort out what their new lives would look like and of course that included their daily provision. They apparently started off on the wrong foot going back to the way things were done before that first encounter on the beach three years before. Jesus had provided for them for these past three years even if multiplying the food was involved. Today they would see that He would still be their source, their job was to just stay the course, they were called to be fishers of men not fishers of fish. That would be the key to their provision, just keep feeding His sheep. Here is how Matthew Henry describes this.
“He had provisions ready for them. When they came to the land, wet and cold, weary and hungry, they found a good fire already blazing to warm and dry them, and fish and bread. We need not be curious in asking where this fire, fish, and bread came from. There was nothing stately or refined here. We should be content with simple things, for Christ was. We may be comforted in this expression of Christ’s care for his disciples. He kindly provided for those fishermen when they came in weary from their work. It is encouraging to Christ’s ministers that they may depend on the One who employs them to provide for them. Let them be content with what they have here; they have better things in reserve.”
I have had to learn this lesson over and over again through the years, taking matters into your own hands always has consequences. Years ago Parris and I had our own “dinner on the beach” experience. We were on a tree planting trip supporting our Bible School, camping and planting trees in Klamath Falls. Our resources were slim and our meals were meager. One night just before bedtime Parris was brushing her teeth by the river using a lantern. The next thing you know the river was teeming with fish. Several of the team members grabbed as many fish as we could handle and started charcoaling fish on the beach. We saw this as a sign of God’s provision for us, fifty years later we are still eating “fish on the beach”.
