Sunday 24 June, 2012
Luke 5:1-11
5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
These 11 verses tell us about when Jesus met His first group of disciples – a group of fisherman.
The verses that have struck me are 4 – 6. Jesus asks Peter to go deeper and then he will definitely catch fish – even though he had been fishing all night without catching anything… Peter isn’t keen at first as he is obviously tired, but follows Jesus request. The outcome = nets full of fish!!
For me, there have been times when I get caught up in disappointment, distractions, sickness, the world, … things that take my eyes off Jesus. What if at these times, I chose to “go deeper” with Jesus, to trust His voice – what if a mighty breakthrough was waiting on the other side of the disappointment? My”net full of fish” outcome.
There are times where I need to take myself out of my comfort zone and push further into the deep with Jesus, where I can’t stand, but I can rely on HIM! He knows the next part of my plan A & that’s the road I want to travel on – even when I can’t see what’s coming up. Scary but exciting, giving Jesus the control!
Written by Ps. Mandy Miller
Peter teaches us much about trust here. As Mandy said Peter had tried to fish all night and it was what he did for a living – he knew a thing or two about how to catch fish! Jesus was a carpenter so what would he know about fishing yet Peter took Him at his word and experienced a miracle. I often find it harder to hand over stuff to God that I am familiar with or I think can manage myself. Thanks for the encouragement Mandy!