The Blessing of Listening, Obeying, and Following Jesus
Paul describes the Spirit in our hearts as the Spirit of God’s Son. This passage is central to the Society’s understanding that fellowship with the Holy Spirit is fellowship with the living Christ.
John 21 · New International Version
John 21 · New International Version Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.
Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.
What Does It Really Mean to Be Blessed?
Listening to Jesus, Following His Will, and Bearing Fruit That Lasts
We often use the word blessed casually.
We say we are blessed when something wonderful happens,
when our family is healthy,
when a prayer is answered,
or perhaps when the restaurant accidentally gives us an extra order of French fries.
That last one may not be in the Beatitudes,
but it can still brighten an afternoon.
But in Scripture,
being blessed means something much deeper.
A blessed person is someone who is favored by God.
They are given special advantages, and gifts, through the Holy Spirit.
And Jesus repeatedly connects blessing with:
hearing God,
believing Him,
obeying Him,
serving Him,
and living within His Kingdom.
Blessing Is Connected to Doing God’s Will
Jesus tells us that those blessed by His Father will:
“inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
He also tells us that simply calling Him:
“Lord”
is not enough.
The person who enters the Kingdom is the one who does the will of His Father in heaven.
That raises an enormously important question:
How can we do God’s will if we never take the time to listen for God’s will?
That question goes directly to the heart of Centering Prayer.
Centering Prayer,
as I understand and practice it,
begins by becoming still before God.
I quiet the commotion in my mind.
I turn my attention toward the Holy Spirit within my heart.
And I ask Jesus one simple question:
“How may I serve You?”
Then comes the part that may be harder than asking.
We listen.
after listening comes the part that may be harder still:
We obey.
Jesus Is the Way
Jesus tells us:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
He is not merely standing beside the road pointing toward the Father.
He is the Way.
And Scripture tells us that God has sent:
“the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.”
So we don't have to spend our lives staring toward the horizon,
wondering where Jesus went.
His Spirit is already present within us.
We simply must learn to listen.
We Are Branches, Not the Vine
Jesus gives us another wonderful picture in John 15.
He tells us:
“I am the vine; you are the branches.”
That image is almost embarrassingly simple.
A branch does not hold a committee meeting
and decide that it no longer needs the vine.
It does not wake up Tuesday morning feeling unusually confident and announce:
“I’ve got this photosynthesis business figured out. Thanks for everything.”
Cut the branch away from the vine,
and eventually the branch withers.
Jesus says the same thing about us:
“Apart from me you can do nothing.”
But when we remain in Him,
something extraordinary happens.
We receive His favor by listening and serving Him.
We recieve His help and gifts that allow us to bear more fruit.
Then we bear fruit.
Jesus tells His disciples that He chose them and appointed them:
“so that you might go and bear fruit — fruit that will last.”
He tells them to:
in His love,
obey His commands,
love one another,
and live as His friends.
This is enormously important to Centering Prayer.
We are not listening to Jesus merely because having a peaceful spiritual experience feels wonderful.
We listen because Jesus has work for us to do.
We are branches.
He is the Vine.
His life flows into our hearts.
And the fruit belongs to God.
Seven Fishermen Who Caught Absolutely Nothing
Then we come to one of my favorite stories in the Bible.
After Jesus’ resurrection,
seven disciples went fishing on the Sea of Galilee.
These were not tourists who rented a boat for the afternoon,
packed sandwiches,
and hoped to take a nice picture holding a fish.
Some of these men were experienced fishermen.
They knew boats.
knew nets.
They knew water.
They knew fish.
And they fished:
all night.
Their grand total?
Zero.
Not one fish.
Imagine that.
Professional fishermen working all night
and coming home empty-handed.
That is the kind of evening where everyone suddenly becomes very interested in blaming the weather.
Early the next morning,
Jesus stood on the shore.
The disciples did not yet recognize Him.
Jesus called to them:
“Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
There is something wonderfully warm about that word:
Friends.
Jesus had previously told His disciples:
“I have called you friends.”
And here He is again,
after His resurrection,
standing on the shore
and addressing these exhausted fishermen as:
friends.
Their answer was painfully short:
“No.”
They had tried.
They had worked.
They had probably thrown those nets until their shoulders hurt.
They had:
experience,
knowledge,
equipment,
determination,
and a boat.
But they had no fish.
Then Jesus gave them one simple instruction:
“Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.”
A Few Feet Made All the Difference
Think about that for a moment.
They had been fishing all night.
Surely they had tried different places.
Surely somebody on that boat could have thought:
“We’ve been doing this for hours. What difference could a few feet possibly make?”
But they listened.
Then they obeyed.
And suddenly they had so many fish
that they were unable to haul the net into the boat.
John even gives us the final count:
153 large fish.
They went from:
nothing
to:
abundance.
What changed?
Same fishermen.
Same boat.
Same net.
Same lake.
The difference was:
Now they were listening to Jesus.
The Holy Spirit was now part of their team.
The same goes for us.
Jesus told us that He would never leave us as orphans, and He hasn’t.
When we serve Jesus in His Kingdom, He is always by our side, helping us every step of the way
Listening Changes Everything
To me,
this story beautifully illustrates the principle behind Centering Prayer.
We can spend enormous amounts of energy doing what we think God wants.
We can create plans.
Establish programs.
Form committees.
Develop strategies.
Write mission statements.
Hold another meeting about the mission statement.
Then form a smaller committee to study why nothing is happening.
We can work ourselves absolutely exhausted trying to fill the net.
And sometimes,
we still return with an empty boat.
Why?
Perhaps sometimes we forgot the most important step:
Ask Jesus where He wants the net.
Centering Prayer reverses the normal order of our lives.
Instead of deciding what I want to accomplish
and then asking God to bless my plan,
I begin by asking:
“Jesus, what do You want me to do?”
Then I listen.
Then I obey.
Sometimes His direction may seem small.
Sometimes strange.
Sometimes impossible.
The disciples could have argued with the man standing on the shore.
Instead,
they moved the net.
And everything changed.
From Catching Fish to Feeding Sheep
But the story does not end with 153 fish.
Jesus already had breakfast waiting for them on shore.
After they had eaten,
Jesus turned to Peter and asked him an intensely personal question:
“Simon son of John, do you love Me?”
Peter answered:
“Yes, Lord... You know that I love You.”
Jesus responded:
“Feed My lambs.”
Then Jesus asked again:
“Do you love Me?”
Peter again said yes.
Jesus answered:
“Take care of My sheep.”
Then Jesus asked Peter a third time:
“Do you love Me?”
Peter was hurt that Jesus asked him three times.
But again he answered:
“Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”
Jesus said:
“Feed My sheep.”
Look at the progression.
Do you love Me?
Then:
Serve My children.
Love for Jesus was never meant to remain merely an emotion inside Peter’s heart.
It had a mission attached to it.
Feed My lambs.
Take care of My sheep.
Feed My sheep.
Then Jesus gives Peter perhaps the simplest mission statement ever written:
“Follow me.”
“What About Him?”
Then something happens that is so wonderfully human
that I cannot help smiling.
Jesus has just given Peter this deeply personal calling:
Follow Me.
Peter immediately looks at another disciple and essentially asks:
“Well... what about him?”
Isn’t that us?
Jesus gives us an assignment,
and five seconds later we are checking somebody else’s job description.
Jesus’ answer is wonderfully direct.
Whatever Jesus chooses to do with that other disciple
is between Jesus and that disciple.
Then Jesus tells Peter:
“You must follow Me.”
That sentence may contain one of the most important lessons in Centering Prayer:
Your calling is your calling.
God may ask the person standing beside you to do something completely different.
Their net may be on another side of another boat.
Their sheep may be somewhere you have never been.
Their spiritual gifts may be completely different from yours.
Your responsibility is not to spend your life comparing your calling with theirs.
Your responsibility is to:
Follow Jesus.
How Can We Follow Someone We Never Listen To?
And that brings us straight back to Centering Prayer.
Jesus says:
“Follow me.”
But how can we follow Him
if we never listen?
Jesus says:
“You are my friends if you do what I command.”
But how can we obey His direction
if our own thoughts,
ambitions,
fears,
schedules,
plans,
and desires
never become quiet enough for us to hear?
Jesus says:
“Feed my sheep.”
But which sheep?
Where?
When?
How?
Those are questions that require directions from above.
For me,
that is why Centering Prayer is not simply meditation.
It is preparation for service.
I become quiet before Jesus
because I want to hear Him.
I listen
because I want to know His will.
I seek discernment
because I want to recognize His direction.
And I obey
because I love Him.
Blessed Are Those Who Hear — and Do
Scripture repeatedly connects blessing with something active.
Jesus says:
“Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.”
He speaks of servants who are blessed when their master returns
and finds them faithfully doing what was entrusted to them.
That little word:
doing
matters.
Centering Prayer cannot end with listening.
Listening must become:
obedience.
Obedience becomes:
service.
Service bears:
fruit.
And the fruit brings:
glory to God.
Jesus describes it beautifully:
“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
That is why the miraculous catch means so much to me.
The disciples worked all night according to:
their own knowledge,
their own experience,
their own strength,
and their own plans.
They caught nothing.
Then Jesus spoke.
They listened.
They obeyed.
And the net became full.
Jesus Did Not Tell Peter to Admire the Fish
Afterward,
Jesus did not tell Peter to spend the rest of his life standing beside the boat admiring those 153 fish.
He gave him an assignment:
Feed My sheep.
That is the life I believe Jesus is calling us toward.
Listen.
Obey.
Serve.
Bear fruit.
Love one another.
And when we become confused about everyone else’s assignment,
remember what Jesus told Peter:
“You must follow Me.”
What Does It Really Mean to Be Blessed?
For me,
being blessed is not simply receiving something pleasant from God.
It is being invited into His Kingdom.
It is knowing Christ.
Hearing Him.
Trusting Him.
Following Him.
Serving Him.
Bearing fruit through Him.
And discovering that His will is far greater than anything that I could have planned myself.
Sometimes blessing may look like abundance:
153 fish.
Sometimes it may look like a difficult assignment:
Feed My sheep.
Sometimes it may simply look like one quiet morning
when I become still before Jesus
and ask:
“Lord, how may I serve You today?”
Then I wait.
Before You Cast the Net Again
So tomorrow morning,
before the plans begin,
before the problems arrive,
before the phone starts announcing everything the world thinks is urgent,
and before the monkeys in our minds organize their first committee meeting,
become still.
Center yourself upon Jesus.
Remember that God has placed:
the Spirit of His Son within our hearts.
And ask:
“Jesus, how may I serve You today?”
Then do something surprisingly difficult.
Do not immediately give Him your suggestions.
Listen.
Perhaps you have been fishing all night
on the wrong side of the boat.
Perhaps you have been working harder
when Jesus was asking you to listen closer.
Perhaps the blessing you are searching for
begins with one act of surrender.
One act of obedience.
One willingness to follow.
Perhaps Jesus is simply standing on the shore,
waiting for you to hear Him say:
“Cast your net over there.”
Questions for prayer:
What do these passages reveal about God?
What response does it ask of me?
Is the impression I receive consistent with the character and teaching of Jesus?
What loving and faithful action should follow?