Lessons on Fishing

Passage: Luke 5:1-11

As I was reading today, I came across a commentary on the passage where Peter is fishing. He's been fishing all night long. It has not been a good night. As the morning dawns, he realizes that it is time to pull in the nets and head to shore for a long awaited rest. He sits down and begins to repair his nets. In the distance, he notices a crowd that appears to be approaching him and his brother as they mend their nets. At the front of the crowd was a man. The man got into his boat and asked him to push out a little from the land so that he could peak to the crowd. Tired and weary--with nets still needing tending, Simon, nevertheless did as the man asked.

When he had completed his teaching, he leaned over to Simon and said, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch," Well, Simon, being the fisherman that he was knew the he wasn't going to catch any fish in the middle of the day. However, he had heard this teacher and he just couldn't be rude to such an obvious man of God. So, tempering his words he politely said, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything." The look on this man's face though changed his words from, "We're going back to shore to rest." Instead, he said, "But because you say so, I will let the nets down."

As he rowed out further and let the nets down--deep into the water--he knew in his mind that he was wasting his time heeding the request of an itinerant Jewish prophet. But, something in his heart told him to do it. As the nets sunk deep into the water he waited and then gave the command to begin pulling them back up. There was resistance. He probably thought, we've let them go so deep they've become snarled. He soon realized though that it wasn't resistance--it was weight. The weight of fish! Not just one or two or three, but dozens of fish--hundreds of fish. Their nets were beginning to break from the load. He quickly called out to his partners in other boats, "Come and help us. NOW!" They came they filled the boats, fish after fish after fish. The boats were beginning to sink.

Simon's head knowledge gave way to heart knowledge and he realized tha he was indeed in the midst of a man of God he fell to his knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord! I am a sinner!" His companions including James and John the Son's of Zebedee were amazed at the catch that had come from the deep.

Jesus, said to Simon, "There's no need to be afraid. Today you have caught fish . Follow me and you will catch men." They looked at each other. They pulled their boats up on the shore. They left their boats. They left their nets. They left the catch of fish.

AND THEY FOLLOWED HIM.

What struck me so much about this story was the phrase, " Put out into the deep water..." I was captivated by the image that came to mind. I would like to think that my church is a church that is active and alive. I would like to think that its members were followers of Jesus Christ that knew how to fish for men. Yet, in this story, it appears as if Simon, soon to be Peter, the expert fisherman--was only skimming the surface. He was not plumbing the depths that were available to him. I wonder how many of us also simply skim the surface of what God has available for us and never experience the depths of what is truly available to us? When was the last time you were truly awed by what God had done in your life or that you had seen God do in someone else's life? It's time to put our nets down deep into God's word.