I
have been following a reading plan that spends 30 days with Jesus and
today, Day 6, focused on the passage when Jesus calls His disciples,
Luke 5:1-11.
"One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partner.Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him."
Jesus begins by teaching a large crowd of people from
just off the shore in Peter's boat, and after He finished speaking,
He tells Peter to cast his nets out. I am in love with Peter's
response in Luke 5:5; he says "Master, we have worked hard all
night and haven't caught anything. But because You said so, I will
let the nets down." Often, I find myself in this same
conversation with God; however, I normally stop after Peter's first
statement. Peter proves an admirable faith in Jesus in this passage.
Although Peter fished for a living and knew well what a slow day
looked like, he obediently cast out his nets just as the Lord
instructed simply because He said so.
Our
perceptions of reality sometimes seem more real than the truth of
God's Word. Similar to Peter, we must trust the Lord's word over our
own understanding despite circumstances and past experiences. His
thoughts are too lofty for our full comprehension even if years of
experience backs our understanding. If you were blind, you would not
trust yourself to guide you, instead you would trust the one who was
leading you. Emotions, bad situations, and sin cause blindness and
lead us to a place of doubt and mistrust which make us vulnerable to
replace God's truths and promises with lies. These lies are not
always blatant; they can come across as almost true or only true for
someone else. More often than not I wake up and feel like I am the
one who knows what is best for me. The fact is, God's Word is true
regardless of our emotions, circumstances, or uncertainties.
Faith
is a choice, even though its not always and easy one. If I am going
to follow Christ, I must choose to do so. This encourages me, because
I do not always wake up and believe God's truth is reality. However,
I am not condemned for that because I can choose to believe and
choose to walk in faith. In His grace, He will take our seed-like
faith and grow it. People have the human nature to become who they
pretend to be. Many times, I have watched a friend pretend to be
someone they are not and eventually become that person. So pretend to
have faith, and pretend to be someone who follows Christ and doesn't
let emotion or bad circumstances get in the way. Pick someone who
follows after the Lord and model them as they follow Christ. God's
Truth eternally surpasses fickle feelings and momentary situations,
so I will choose to follow simply because He said so.
