The secret of abundance

UV 352/10,000 John 21 v 6 The secret of abundance Joh 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 The disciples had not caught any fish all night but in an instant, the reality changed. They listened to the word of Jesus to cast the net on the right side of the boat and the net was so full of fish they found it difficult to draw it. When they acted on their own strength, experience and wisdom, they had an empty net. When they acted on the counsel and wisdom of God, the net was overflowing with fish. Jesus knew the result even before the disciples acted on His advice. He sees the end from the beginning. This is the secret of abundance whether it is in our professions, business, investments, family matters or ministry: We need to first look to the Lord and listen to His wise counsel. The disciples could not look deep beyond the surface of the water. But, Jesus knew where the abundance lay. He knew the disciples’ need and appeared at the point of their need. He called out to them, enquiring if they had caught any fish. When our nets are empty, instead of being frustrated or dejected, we need to call out to the Lord. The situation had not changed: it was the same set of fisherman, same lake, same boat.. The love, wisdom, knowledge and power of Jesus made all the difference. Jesus not only knew where there was an abundant of fish but He had power to command the fish to move into the net. Jesus has power today to command whatever we lack or need to move into our net or our network. The Lord can act beyond the level of our competence. The disciples were competent fishermen. Yet, their competence was not sufficient to ensure success. When they relied on the Word of the Lord for guidance and direction, they succeeded beyond their natural expectations. They were told what to do and also told in which direction they were to cast their net. From their past experience and knowledge, a mere change of direction from the left side of the boat to the right would not have yielded results. But, they on their part did not scoff or spurn the advice. Similarly, we need guidance on what to do and in which direction we are to act. We need to stop depending on our past experience and depend on every word that the Lord speaks to us. Prateep V Philip