The phone is ringing, customers are walking in the door to order and eat lunch and we are short handed. Not because of a call out or no show, we run a low staffed small restaurant. So when the rush comes it can be stressful. This particular day something profound took place that I wasn't expecting. My life would be forever changed by what would transpire later that afternoon.
Can you image, Simon (Peter), a small business owner with a large enough fishing ship to employ a few people and have a partner ship of some other small business owners. One day at work Jesus approaches Simon (Peter) and asks him push off shore because of the people pressing Jesus, Luke 5:1-11. While out Jesus instructs Simon (Peter) to put in his net, what happens next changes his life forever, more fish then he could handle were in his net. From the shore, to the boat ride to the net being lowered and brought in full of fish, each of these actions lead him to see who he was actually speaking with. Simon's revelation of Jesus began a transformation in his life that would lead to even a name change, John 1:42.
Similar to the 2 men walking on the road to Emmaus, Luke 24:13-35, who walked and spoke with Jesus, but wasn't until later that they understood who they were talking with. Peter was speaking face to face with Jesus and at first didn't know fully who he was. Peter's brother Andrew had heard of Jesus, being a disciple of John the Baptist, John 1:35-41. What was that like to see Jesus face to face. I have to pause to a moment and reflect, how one encounter can change your life forever.
This brings me back to that afternoon when my life was forever changed. Being like Peter, a small business owner, only this one is a pizza shop. And I like Peter was raised knowing God, although 2000 years later and raised in the Catholic Church. But not until I was 29, were my eyes opened in a revelation of Christ. That day in the restaurant someone came and gave to least of us, as Jesus taught, and the least was me. They came to give me a gift, they called it a 'love offering' and what they gave me was the amount of money needed for hernia surgery. They only knew that they were supposed to give that to me, not knowing what it was for. Not knowing what they were about to do was exactly what I needed, the only thing they wanted to do was be obedient to what they heard and then be just Christ. I encountered God as Father that day and was forever changed. He revealed Himself to me as a Father who loves, provides and speaks to others about me, not because of who I was, but because He calls me a son!
Nick
