Instincts and Experiences

"Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless. at Your word, I will let down the net."                                                                 Lukes 5:5   NKJV 

Peter and the others had been fishing all night and had caught nothing. Jesus, who was sitting in one of the boats while the men washed the nets, had been preaching and teaching to a crowd. When He had finished, He said to the men, 'Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch'. 

Now, there are a couple of factors here, firstly, fishermen went out fishing at night along the shore line where there were more fish. This way, they were in with a chance to have a great catch. This was not done during the day or, in deep water, Secondly, Jesus, in Peter's opinion, knew relatively nothing about fishing. As Peter was a rough and ready chap, he could so easily have said to Jesus, 'Stick to Your job of preaching Lord, and leave the fishing to me.' Thankfully, he didn't. He humbled himself and took the advice from Jesus - even though it sounded bizarre to him, and went into the deep. The bottom line is, he did well and they caught so many fish that they began to sink with the weight.

Often, our instincts tell us differently to what the Lord directs. We also tend to shun the person who comes to us and tells us what we should do, or attempts to advise us in some way. We can have a 'I know best' attitude and therefore are prone to be unteachable. This is mainly because we have a vast experience of what we are doing or, intend to do and view others as interfering in what they have no knowledge about.

Just think for a moment, if Peter had refused Jesus' advice that day, he would have ended up with no fish and his bank balance would have suffered. Instincts are good but are not always certain; they may lead to a good solution but, on the other hand, they may be wrong. Experience is vital; people who are trained in a particular area know their business, but again, there are loopholes; no one knows it all except Jesus.

This is why we need the attitude where we listen to others and assess their advice, taking action if we are convinced that they are right. We also need to have the willingness and common sense to say to Jesus, when He directs, 'at Your word Lord, I will do this.'

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

Member of the National Association of Christian Ministers

Why not order my Daily Commentary from Amazon - Paperback or Kindle 

Check it out

 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084G9S4FD/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2