John 21:4
“But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.”
Have you ever been caught by surprise? I was walking through the Charlotte airport on my way to catch a flight, when I heard my name being called. At first I thought I was just hearing things, but then I heard my name called the second time. I began to look around, and there in the airport was someone who heard me preach a revival meeting. I stopped and talked to this gentleman for a few minutes and then moved on to my gate to take my flight home. As I thought about that incident on the airplane, I was so thankful that I wasn’t doing something that would have brought reproach to my Saviour’s name.
The disciples found themselves in the same situation that I was in at the airport. They had fished all night, and when coming back to shore they saw a man standing on the shore. That man asked them what they were doing, and they replied they had fished all night and caught nothing. That man told them to cast their nets on the other side, and when they cast their net and caught a draught of fishes they immediately realized that man was Jesus Christ. They had been caught by the Saviour, and unfortunately they were not doing everything they should have been doing.
You never know when someone is going to catch you. That is why you need to be sure you are doing the right thing all the time. I find that the disciples were lacking in three areas where you need to be sure that if you were caught unexpectedly by anyone, that these three things would be on display.
First, if you were caught unexpectedly, would your faith be caught. You never know when someone is watching how much faith you have in God. Are you one who is often worried about life’s affairs? People are watching your faith to see if it is real to you. If you are quickly frazzled by how you are going to handle life’s problems, then you are going to have a hard time influencing people for Jesus Christ.
Second, if you were caught unexpectedly, would people see your Christianity. Sadly, Peter was fishing without his clothes on. Jesus caught him dressed indecently. You must always act and dress as a Christian because you never know when you are going to cross someone’s path who knows you. You should always ask yourself, would I be embarrassed if someone caught me doing what I’m about ready to do or dressed a certain way? If you wouldn’t want someone to catch you in a certain place, then don’t ever go there. If you wouldn’t want someone to catch you dressed a certain way, then dress the way you would want to be caught.
Third, if you were caught unexpectedly, would your treatment of people be right? The disciples didn’t know that they were in the presence of Jesus. What if they had treated Him wrongly? They would have been sorry had they not treated Jesus right. You never know who you are talking to and when you will cross their paths again in the future. That is why you should always treat people right because you never know how that person could help you in the future.
If you always live your life as if someone is watching you, then you will never be embarrassed when they catch you. Living right pays off. Let your Christianity and good behavior be on display at all times and you will never have to apologize for being caught off guard.