JESUS SPEAKING
Then he got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s (Peter’s), and asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
But Simon (Peter) answered and said to him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.
When Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5: 3-8.)
INSPIRED THOUGHTS
The disciples had just finished fishing and had caught nothing; they were cleaning their nets for the day. Jesus tells Peter to push out one last time and drop the net. Peter doesn’t want to, but he obeys Jesus and once more put’s out to sea. The result is a catch that no one could have ever imagined, and we see Peter’s understanding of who Jesus is and what he can do, drastically transformed. He is humbled and falls down to esteem the Lord.
Peter is able to witness a miracle because he chose to listen to Jesus, and chose not to allow his experience as a fisherman, or his own intellect or reasoning to compete for his obedience to God. Peter did not expect his boat to nearly sink because of the weight of the catch. Peter did not push out in to that sea because he was hoping to catch any fish at all; he pushed out in to that sea because he was being obedient to Jesus Christ.
None of us woke up this morning to discover that our car wouldn’t start (at least I hope not.) The mere idea would never have popped in to our heads because we all automatically expect them to run. The same is true of the light switches we will use today, and the alarm clocks, and the telephones, and anything else we rely upon for our daily activity. We trust them. To me it is interesting, that we can trust a small cell phone, a computer, even our own instincts and abilities, but when it comes to trusting Jesus Christ we need to constant convince ourselves he will or is working in our lives. Peter was a doubter because he was relying on his own knowledge and understanding, and forgot about the power of God. How can a person rely upon their’ own power, and remain obedient and reliant upon God’s power?
Today, we need to lose our own understanding and replace it with a trust in Jesus Christ. We need to let go of what we are trying to do under our own ability and power and allow God’s power to work in our lives. As we have learned from this scripture, the first thing that needs to be done is we must trust in God, even when it doesn’t make sense to us. Then we must be obedient to what God is calling us to do. Is there some area of your life where you are trying to control something; to gain a desired result on your own rather than relying upon God; you might be seeking love and attempting to gain it in worldly ways. You might be seeking a career, and you find yourself using the tactics of those who do not know God to get ahead. The situation is different for all of us, but the message and the solution are the same. God has called us to do what he is asking, and often times, relying on him is difficult, because we must stop relying on ourselves. May we all choose to rely upon Him.
“Lord Heavenly Father, help us all to discontinue our attempts to control our own lives and help us to give them completely over to You. Jesus we want so desperately to be obedient, so please help us with this. Holy Spirit, give us the trust we need to witness the miracles that You want to do in our lives. Please reveal to us where we need to trust You fully and completely. We love You Father, we thank You, and we trust You, and we ask all of these things in Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.” God bless all of you.
Jesus Speaks 