Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and
listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He
saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out
of them and were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which
was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat
down and began teaching the people from the boat. When He had finished
speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your
nets for a catch." Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard
all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the
nets." When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish,
and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other
boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the
boats, so that they began to sink. (Luke 5:1-7)
Jesus offered these fishermen a
change. How many times does real change
occur in life? Most of us get up each
day and do as we have always done. We gather together, prepare our nets, row
our boats from the shore, cast into the deep and pray there is a catch worth
our efforts. Some catches are better
than others but the object is still the same, catch enough today to make a
living.
There can be some joy in non-eventful
daily living. In fact if I were offered
a life that was average, without any unpredictable swings of success and
misfortune, I would be tempted to take it.
Getting up each day, going to work, coming home to family, and looking
forward to the weekend, has merit. We
rarely understand how fulfilling something is until the unexpected happens and
threatens to take it all away. But even
when we are content we find ourselves asking, “Is this all there is?”
Peter, James, and John were no
different then you and me. Their daily lives were as blue-collar as
anyone’s. They lived day-to-day and net
to net. Every morning, when they arrived
for work one question dominated their lives: Where are the fish today?
On this particular day they were
met with misfortune. Each cast netted
little. The fish were nowhere to be
found. Enter Jesus of Nazareth, a friend
who offered them a suggestion. Put out into the deep water and let down
your nets for a catch, he said.
Peter’s response is like anyone who has worked all day at an
unsuccessful project, “Master, we’ve worked all night and haven’t caught anything.
But if you want, we will let down the nets.” What happened next was a miracle. Where once
there were no fish now there were so many they had to call for the second boat
to handle the load and the number of fish nearly sank both of them.
Life can often look hum drum and
it even grim. But change can happen very quickly. Lots of things in life can happen in an
instant that change the whole day; they can even change your life. You just have to keep casting the net and
waiting for the fish.
The great musician George
Frederick Handel was dogged with misfortune. He had debt upon debt, despair
upon despair. For four years he could
neither walk nor write. At age 60 he
thought his life was finished. Then he was challenged by a friend to write a
sacred oratorio. He read the Scriptures and went to work. He wrote his crowning
achievement: The Messiah. Today, it
is considered one of the greatest oratorios ever written.
Jesus knew there were fish yet to
be caught and Handel’s friend knew there was music yet to be written. Both situations seemed hopeless. Peter speaks for every one of us who are
willing to try again, "I will do as You say and let down the nets."
Luke 5:5
Scripture to Claim:
...for you were formerly darkness, but now
you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the
Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn
what is pleasing to the Lord. Ephesians
5:8-10
