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 told Peter to push out one last time and drop the nets. Peter didn’t want to, but he obeyed Jesus and pushed out to sea. His obedience resulted in a catch none of them could have imagined; a catch so large there nets nearly burst. Peter immediately humbled himself, and fell down before Jesus. His understanding of Jesus was immediately and drastically transformed; in an instant Peter realized that Jesus was not just a man, but something more. Peter witnessed a miracle because he chose not to allow his experience as a fisherman, or his own reasoning to compete with the command of Christ. Peter didn’t push out in to the water because he expected to haul in the largest catch of his life (he probably didn’t expect to catch anything at all.) He pushed out in to the sea because he was being obedient to Jesus Christ.
Each of us woke up this morning with a great deal of expectations. We expected our alarm clocks to work, our cars to start, and our cell phones to be functional; we relied upon them; we trusted them. We can trust our gadgets and even our own instincts and abilities, but when it comes to trusting Jesus Christ we have difficulty? Peter initially relied upon his own knowledge and understanding when questioning the command of Christ to ‘push-out.’ He saw God do a wonderful work, because he stopped trusting in himself and began trusting in God.
Today, we need to trust in God and not our own limited understanding. We must be obedient to what God is calling us to do. Is there some area of your life where you are refusing to relinquish control? Search your heart. God has called each of us to be obedient to His commands. Often, obedience is difficult, but unless we obey God we will miss out on experiencing many of His great miracles. May we all ‘push out’ and place our trust in the eternal and almighty God.
“Lord Heavenly Father, help us to relinquish control over our lives and give them back to You. Jesus please help us to be obedient. Holy Spirit, help us to place our full trust in You. Reveal to us areas where we lack faith, and help us to change. 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 