Gone Fishing

"4 Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."   Luke 5:1-11   NKJV

Picture this scene and try to place yourself in Peter's position. The best time for this type of fishing, is at night and he and his partners had been out all of the night and caught nothing. They were businessmen with families and depended on catching fish so that they could survive. Yet here, they had had a very bad night and exhausted, they sit on the beach washing out their nets before heading off home for a well-earned rest. 

However, Jesus has different ideas and walks up to them, climbs into Peter's boat and asks him to put out a little from the land, so that He can preach to the multitudes that had followed Him. Peter now had to contend with the massive crowds that were converging on his space and wait until Jesus had finished preaching, before he could go home. The time is not recorded but it must have been quite a time.

When Jesus had finished His sermon, He said to Peter, 'Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.' V4. How would you have responded to this after all you had been through? Peter would have had doubts about this. I mean, Jesus was a preacher not a fisherman and the best time for fishing was at night and they had already been out there all of the night and caught nothing. It must have been difficult for Peter and his reply can be examined as such: 'Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your Word I will let down the net.' v5.

We don't know what was in Peter's heart at this moment. He may have been totally willing to do as Jesus had said; especially with Jesus' track record. But, Peter was also very tired, down in the dumps and possibly a little irritated by everything. Whatever, he obeyed Jesus and he was rewarded with so great a catch that he had to call for help from the other boat and even then, they nearly sank with the weight of the fish. In this one fishing trip alone, they must have caught enough fish to finance themselves for quite a time.

In Jesus' eyes, Peter had been faithful and despite being exhausted and despondent, Jesus wanted to bless him. Peter dropped to his knees at Jesus' feet when he saw the blessing and said, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.' v8. Why would he have said this? Peter knew what had been in his heart when he agreed to launch out into the deep, again. He knew that he had been reluctant to do this. He knew that his attitude, although not voiced, was wrong and he felt so unworthy of the blessing that Jesus had given him. But Jesus knew his heart and He knows yours too.

We are like this at times. We know that Jesus wants us to do a particular thing but we wrestle with this. We try every excuse in the book, before we go off, reluctantly and possibly a little irate, to where He has sent us. One example could be someone may have rung us, needing help and the last thing we want to do is to go out, especially 'to them'. We may not voice it, but it can be seen in our body language that we don't want to do this. However, as we obey, albeit reluctantly, a blessing is coming our way.

If we want to be like Jesus, we must be prepared to do all that He wants of us, however inconvenient it may be. He knows our hearts; He knows our qualities; He knows that even though we may moan and groan at times, we'll still do what He asks. He knows that He can rely on us - on you! You may disagree with this. If so, why then, did He choose you?

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com