"4 Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.' 5 But Simon answered and said to Him, 'Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing, nevertheless, at Your word, I will let down the net.' 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their net was breaking.' Luke 5:4-6 NKJV
God knows best; one word from Him can change everything. Note that Peter didn't argue with Jesus. He made his point but he obeyed Him anyway; it may have appeared to be a reluctant kind of obedience but Peter wasn't rude. Remember, these guys were seasoned fishermen; they knew their trade and when people are like this, they don't like being told otherwise. However, the only dispute that came out of Peter's mouth was, 'nevertheless, at Your word, I will let down the net.
When we are in situations such as this, we can either deny self or deny Christ. There is no other way. To deny Christ is to claim that you know it all, you don't need God or anyone, you can go it alone. When you think about this, it's a rather foolish thing to say. It is far better to deny self, God knows best. We allow too much of self to rule our lives. We can become puffed up and unteachable and when we are such, we will pay the price at some time in our lives. Jesus must come first.
Take a look at this situation. Jesus told Peter and the other experienced fishermen, to go deeper where they would find the catch that they were seeking. Peter started to consider this and then he decided to:
RE-CONSIDER Peter had a little experience of how Jesus worked and in the short time that he had been with Him, he had seen some awesome miracles performed. In the split second of his thinking, he remembered these and decided to re-consider what Jesus was asking.
RESPOND Peter had to decide what he was going to do here. He chose the better way and responded to Jesus' request although he had no idea how it would all turn out.
RECEIVE It would have been beyond Peter's comprehension to believe what would happen next, but it did and they would have been astounded at it all. They received it with gladness.
All it takes is to obey Jesus, to take Him at His word. He will do the rest. All we need to do is to carry out the 3 R's formula - Re-consider, Respond and Receive. We can either deny self or deny Christ, the choice is ours. But if you believe that Jesus knows best; that He has your interests at heart and He will always deliver the best for you, trust Him, nevertheless what your mind is saying. He wants to fill your nets. I interpret, 'Nevertheless, at You word,' to stand for 'You know best Lord, You know best, I’ll go deeper.’
Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard
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