“Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread.” – John 21:9
Sanctification is not only the chiseling of the Christian—it is the fire that restores. Few stories capture this more beautifully than Peter’s. We often remember Peter as the bold preacher at Pentecost, the healer at the Gate Beautiful, the apostle who opened the gospel to the Gentiles. But he wasn’t always that man. Before God used him publicly, God refined him privately. Peter had to be humbled, purged, and sanctified. And Jesus did that work not by avoiding Peter’s failure, but by meeting him in it. When the disciples recognized the risen Christ on the shore, Peter plunged into the sea and ran straight toward the One he had denied. And what did he find waiting for him? “A fire of coals… and fish laid on it, and bread” (John 21:9, NKJV).
That detail is stunning because the last time Peter stood at a fire of coals, he denied Jesus (John 18:18). The place of his greatest failure became the place of his greatest restoration. Jesus didn’t choose a new setting. He chose the same kind of fire. The same smell. The same memory. Why? Because sanctification doesn’t skip over our wounds—it heals them. It doesn’t ignore our brokenness—it restores it. Jesus had already told Peter, “I have prayed for you… and when you return to Me, strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:32, NKJV). Peter’s calling was real, but his confidence was misplaced. He trusted his strength, his boldness, his leadership. But Jesus knew the truth: there was too much self in the equation. Before Peter could stand boldly for Christ, he had to be broken before Christ. Before he could lead with courage, he had to learn humility.
Jesus brought him back to the coals—not to condemn him, but to cleanse him. Not to shame him, but to shape him. Not to remind him of his failure, but to restore him for future usefulness. That is sanctification. Jesus meets us at the place of our collapse and rebuilds us into something stronger. Like a master craftsman who refuses to leave a crack unfixed, Jesus restores every part of us we surrender to Him. Peter walked away from that fire purified, humbled, and ready. Not because he was perfect, but because he had been restored. That’s why he later wrote, “Judgment begins at the house of God.” He knew what it meant to be refined by the Lord he loved.
Let Jesus meet you at your fire of coals. Bring Him the place where you fell, the moment you stumbled, the wound you still carry. He does not avoid your failure—He restores it. Sanctification is the fire that heals, the grace that rebuilds, the love that makes you useful again. Step toward Him, and let Him turn your place of defeat into a place of renewal.
“God does not abandon His people when they fall; He restores them.” — R.C. Sproul
surrendered devotions 