What would you say if you were asked why Jesus came to earth? Have you given it much thought lately? If you consider yourself a Christian, and you don’t know for sure why He came, then you really NEED to know. In His own words in Luke 19:19 He said, For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
What would you say then is “Job One” for those who follow Christ Jesus? Should it not be to continue the job the Lord Jesus started during His ministry? The early disciples did, but somehow a couple thousand years down the road, things have changed. You see, far too many “Christians” see Jesus as their servant, instead of the other way around. It’s easy to spot them, for most of their prayers are self-centered, “Lord, give me a new home, a new car, prosperity, health and make me HAPPY!” Now of course, none of US pray like that, so I must be talking about someone else, right?

   For some, “HAPPY!” means a vacation every year in Hawaii, for some it means having the latest gadget, or a new car or a nice home. There’s certainly nothing wrong with having prosperity, unless prosperity has YOU, that is, caring for your prosperity is taking up most of your time that would be better spent serving God. Now, prosperity is good if you use it to be a blessing to others, and you use it to help preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After all, it’s hard to spend money to help those in need if you don’t have any to spend in the first place. And I know many Christians WILL help those in need, that is, once they get their new ________ paid for. (You fill in the blank, be that a new home, new car, bigger boat, bigger TV, etc). Most of the time, “Job One” is not very high on their list of “Must do” things. What about the “HAPPY” part? Does God want us to be happy? Sure He does. Do you seriously think God gets much glory in you running around all day with a long face, saying Oh, woe is me? Would YOU listen to someone preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ who never smiles? Personally, I probably wouldn’t.
   Joy is real high on God’s list, and if you really know Him, you have joy unspeakable, no matter what the circumstances around you. Keep in mind that “joy” and “HAPPY!” may be two different things altogether. I’m not “HAPPY!” when my computer crashes and leaves me hanging out to dry, but still I have “joy” in knowing how much the LORD loves me, in spite of my, let’s say, uh…faults. Yeah I have faults, just ask my wife. NO!!! DON’T ASK MY WIFE!! It’s amazing how God loves even ME. And that brings me to why Job One is so important to me. You see, not near enough people have the “joy” of knowing Jesus. That’s why God has a job for us to do.
   “Job One”. Hmmmm, that sounds too much like WORK to me, and we are saved by “FAITH, right? So can’t we just draw “unemployment” while we sit around and let God bless us all day? What about those who don’t know Jesus? Shouldn’t we be trying to change that situation? Or is it “someone else’s” job? There are so many lost and unsaved people; I can’t lead the whole world to Jesus, so why even try? How can I make a difference, really, I’m only one person. Besides, I’m not a preacher.
   Well, if THAT’S your thinking, then perhaps you haven’t seen yourself the way God sees you. Maybe you’ve made excuses for not winning souls for Jesus. Maybe you even consider yourself unworthy to win souls, seeing you may still have a few things remaining in your life you don’t have victory in overcoming yet. Not to worry. Let me share something with you from John, chapter 21 that may change your outlook about “Job One”.
I’ve shared this before, but today the LORD is putting it heavy on my heart, so here goes: we will use the first seventeen verses, and I’ll insert some comments in between:
Joh 21:1 After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself.
Joh 21:2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.
Joh 21:3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.

   Don’t miss the significance of the fact that this was the THIRD time Jesus appeared to His disciples after rising from the dead. That’s just not something you see every day, and yet these disciples weren’t too excited about it, and seemingly put preaching the Gospel on the back burner and went back to their old job they had before becoming disciples of Jesus. Remember, Jesus had called them to change careers, being “Fishers of men”, not “fishers for fish”. But they returned to fishing for fish. Only the fish weren’t participating that night, were they? Talk about being out of the will of God!! Haven’t we all done a bit of that from time to time?

Joh 21:4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
Joh 21:5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.
Joh 21:6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
Joh 21:7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.
Joh 21:8 And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.
Joh 21:9 As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.
Joh 21:10 Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.
Joh 21:11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.
Joh 21:12 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.
Joh 21:13 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.
Joh 21:14 This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.
Joh 21:15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?
   At this point I have to ask, these WHAT?? I’d always been taught that Jesus was asking Peter if he loved Him more that the other disciples loved Him. But look at verse 11 and you’ll see what Peter had his focus on. A clue here: it wasn’t JESUS, it was the hundred and fifty three fish, BIG fish, don’t miss that part, big fish. We know there were that many because Peter was counting them. And apparently Jesus was standing there watching Peter counting fish and asked him, Do you love me more than these? (fish)…. He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
   Here’s something REAL important: notice Jesus asked Peter if he loved him, and Peter replied he LIKED Him. There are two Greek words I want you to notice here. One is “Agapao”, meaning the God kind of love, unconditional, unlimited love. The other is “Phileo”, meaning brotherly kindness, “I like you, I’m fond of you”. Far inferior in fervency than Agapeo. Jesus said, “Agapao thou me?” Peter’s response was, Yea, Lord; thou knowest I “Phileo” thee. Hmm, what’s going on here? That wasn’t what Jesus asked Peter.
Joh 21:16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Again, Jesus asked the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, AGAPAO thou me? and again, Peter replied with Phileo. Yes Jesus, I LIKE YOU (but I don’t LOVE you the way you love me)
Joh 21:17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
   Wow! Look at this, will you? The third time Jesus asked, Simon, son of Jonas, PHILEO thou me? And Peter was grieved because the third time Jesus asked, Do you PHILEO (like) me? What’s going on? Well, remember a few chapters back, Jesus had told the disciples before the night was over they would all forsake Him. But Peter said, Hey, Jesus, not ME. Even if all the other disciples forsake you, I won’t. I’m solid! I’m strong. I’ve walked on the water, remember? But Peter DID forsake Jesus, and remembered that sad night, and was only trying to be honest with Jesus. Here he thought he truly loved Jesus, but when the heat was on he found his love was lacking somewhat, like OURS. Jesus was looking for “LOVE”, but Peter admitted he only had “I LIKE YOU” to offer Jesus.
   What is really important here is to notice, all three times, while Peter admitted his love for Jesus wasn’t as strong as they both wished it was, Jesus still instructed Peter to feed His lambs and feed His sheep. The third time, Jesus knowing Peter couldn’t come UP to His level of love, came DOWN to Peter to accept him where his heart really was. Like a lot of us, we make promises that we end up breaking, much to our regret. But that doesn’t mean Jesus will reject us.
   And more importantly, Jesus won’t reject YOU, even though your love for Him is not perfect. He will meet you right where you’re at, but He won’t leave you there. He will take the level of love you have to offer Him right now, and He will perfect it as your relationship with Him deepens. There are no rejects in Jesus’ eyes, only those who haven’t experienced His love yet. And He wants YOU to know He truly loves you. He WILL fill you with HIS love so you can perform “Job One”. Now, aren’t you glad you know that? Don’t you wish EVERYONE did? Go tell someone the Good News!