[historia en español]

by Sharla Guenther

Jesus appeared several times to the disciples after He rose from the dead.  This is a story of one of those times...

Peter said to some of the other disciples, "I think I'm going to go fishing." 

The disciples that were there said, "Wait up, we'll go with you."

It was getting dark outside but the disciples thought they would catch more fish at this time of day.  They got into the boat and went out onto the water. They were out there for a long time.  The time passed and it was almost morning but they still hadn't caught any fish.

Jesus knew where His disciples were and went out to meet them.  He was standing on shore, but the disciples didn't realize who He was.  Jesus called to them, "Friends, haven't you caught any fish?"

"No," they answered. 

So Jesus told them, "Throw your net on the other side of the boat and you will catch some."  What happened next was amazing.

The disciples, who had been fishing all night without catching anything, threw the net over to the other side and within minutes the net was overflowing with fish.

One of the disciples realized who had been talking to them, "It is the Lord!"  As soon as Peter heard this he jumped out of the boat to go to Jesus.  (They weren't that far from shore).

The other disciples stayed in the boat, and worked hard to tow all the fish to shore.  When they met up with Jesus, there was a fire started with some bread lying close by.  Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have caught and we'll have breakfast together."

Peter helped the rest of the disciples get the fish out of the boat.  There were so many fish and they were all so big and heavy that they all needed to lift together to get the fish out of the boat.

Then they all sat together in front of the warm fire and Jesus took the bread and the fish and gave it to them.  This was the third time Jesus had met with the disciples since He rose from the dead.

After breakfast, Jesus asked Peter some important questions.  He asked him, "Peter do you love me more than your parents and all your friends?"

"Yes, Lord," he said, "You know that I love you." 

Again Jesus said, "Peter do you truly love me, no matter what?" 

He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."

Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" 

Peter's feelings were hurt because Jesus kept asking him, but he replied, "Lord, you know the answer, you know that I love you."

"Then follow me," Jesus said.

***

We have learned that Jesus died on the cross because He loves us, no matter what bad things we do!  Now we need to love Jesus no matter what.  Here are some questions to think about:

Would you still love/follow Jesus if...

• your mom or dad got very sick
• you had no friends
• you became blind, or couldn't walk anymore
• everything was going wrong
• you had to move away from all your friends
• you were poor and never got any Christmas present

Some kids just like you have these problems, and much worse, and they still love Jesus!  We need to remember that no matter what, Jesus loves us and will never ever stop loving us!  Sometimes things happen that we don't understand, but Jesus knows everything and He will help us if we ask Him to.

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