John 21:1-17

21 Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. 2 Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.

3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”

“We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.

4 At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. 5 He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?”

“No,” they replied.

6 Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.

7 Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. 8 The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore. 9 When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.

10 “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said. 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn.

12 “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. 14 This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.

15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?[e]”

“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”

“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.

16 Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”

“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.

17 A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.”

I am no stranger to burn out. In fact, almost annually I find myself in the same unending cycle of serving, serving, serving, with no hope of ever finding rest. If the cycle continues for too long, my body eventually refuses to perform at its optimum level by succumbing to infection or exhaustion. My emotions also tend to become unstable, ranging from overwhelming anger to intense sadness. The most damaging symptom of burn out for me however, is a spiritual disconnect. Although my mind knows I should be still before God, my heart struggles to engage with Him. Reading The Word becomes a chore, my prayers sound rote and my worship feels superficial.

My knee jerk reaction to all of these symptoms is to eliminate EVERYTHING on my schedule–immediately! Although this way of quickly controlling the situation does provide me with more free time, it rarely compels me to allow the Holy Spirit the opportunity to reveal the reason why I continue in this destructive cycle of performance.

All of us have a deep desire to be known- and loved. It was birthed in us by our Creator and was designed to be satisfied by Him alone. The unfortunate thing is, we sinners often look to other people to fill us with a sense of purpose, worthiness, acceptance and love. And since all have sinned and fallen short, others can never satisfy the need we have for our soul to be filled up by our Lord. Thus, we are left feeling disappointed, empty, unappreciated and unloved.

“If I am devoted to the cause of humanity only, I will soon be exhausted and come to the place where my love will falter; but if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity though men treat me as a door-mat.”

Oswald Chambers

How then do we love, care for and feed God’s sheep without becoming exhausted?

We must love Jesus Christ personally and passionately BEFORE we serve humanity.

How do we do that?

Every day we must put our tunic on, jump out of the boat and swim to shore. We must allow the Holy Spirit to nourish our soul by sitting and having some breakfast with Our Savior (and it can’t be a bowl of artificial colors and flavors – we can’t live healthy lives on that! We need life giving sustenance to keep us going; eggs, bacon, waffles, fruit and Starbucks coffee!!!).

And…..

At the beginning of every fishing season we must ask God, “what do I need to eliminate from my schedule so that I can have breakfast with you every day? What, or who do I need to say “no” to so that YOU are once again the priority in my life?” Once He answers, we must be willing to drop our nets and trust that He will provide others to pull in the fish while we are away.