Let Down Your Nets

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. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!" For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men." (Luke 5:1-10)

How many times does real change occur in life?  It is not often.  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.

Getting up each day, going to work, coming home to family, and looking forward to the weekend, has merit.  And we rarely understand how fulfilling it is until something unexpected happens and threatens to take it all away.  But even when we are content we find ourselves asking, “Is this all there is? Isn’t there more to life than this?”

Peter, James, and John were no different then you and me.  Their daily lives were as blue-collar as anyone’s.  They lived paycheck-to-paycheck, day-to-day.  The feeding of their families depended on a little bit of skill, dogged persistence, and a whole lot of luck.  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.  The fish were nowhere to be found.  Enter Jesus of Nazareth, a friend who offered them a change. Put out into deep water, and let down the 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 can even look grim,
but when Jesus shows up, change can happen in an instant.

Peter falls at Jesus’ feet and confesses something we all may need to confess.  He basically says, “Forgive me, Lord, for not trusting you with my business.”  Peter may be the earliest recording of this prayer but many have prayed it since.  God wants to change your life...that means your workplace as well as your home.

Maybe today is a good day to go into a partnership with Jesus and see where He says to “let down the nets.”

Scripture to Claim
I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor--it is the gift of God. (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13)