I do believe many young ones are burning to serve the Lord with their full time. Some have been hindered from doing so by the thought of the difficulty they will have in obtaining a living. But let me tell you that whenever we think anything about the matter of making a living, we are religious. With the living Jesus, with the resurrected Christ, there is no problem of making a living. Even without the sea, even on the land, if we need fish, the fish will be there. It all depends upon whether or not the Lord Jesus is with us. If we have the resurrected Christ with us, we may forget about all religious schedules and also about our living. The living Jesus not only cares for our spiritual need, but also for our physical need. He is not a dead religion; He is not a dead mission board. He is the living Christ. All the fishes are under His command.

According to the record of the four Gospels, Peter learned three lessons throughout his life from fishing. The first is recorded in Luke 5:1-11, where Peter was called by the Lord. At that time he caught a multitude of fish at Jesus' word. The second instance is recorded in Matthew 17:24-27, where Peter was told by the Lord to go fishing and find the tribute money in the fish's mouth. Now in John 21 we have the third instance. I am so thankful that we never read of Peter going back to fishing again.

Typically speaking, the day in which we are living is in the night. All night we must be kept from any religious attempt, any religious way of carrying on the Lord's work. Don't count your dollars. Don't look into your bank account. Don't estimate how many fishes you will need.

Last summer we had a large conference here in Los Angeles. The responsible ones knew nothing about schedules or budgets and did not calculate what they were going to spend beforehand. After it was over, I asked them concerning the conference account. I knew that we had spent much. Eventually we discovered that every need was fully met with a surplus remaining. Praise the Lord for that lesson. You see, this is the living Jesus, not a dead religion. This is Christ, not anything scheduled in a religious way.

Everything recorded in John 21 is undoubtedly with a purpose. Chapter 21 cannot compare, in a sense, with chapters 14 through 17 of John. But in another sense it is such a worthy and meaningful chapter. I am so grateful to the Lord for it now. I cannot tell you how much I love John 21. It is so practical and unreligious.