Last month we volunteered at a high school where I had the task of getting together a bible study. As I searched for a passage, I came across Luke 5, and knew it was what the Lord wanted me to share. As I looked from verse to verse, God continued revealing things to me in a much deeper way than I had previously understood. I shared some of the following thoughts with those students, but as I’ve typed this blog, God has allowed me to take it even deeper!
"One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”
“Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.
When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.” For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.
Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus."
Luke 5:1-11 NLT
1. God wants to use us in our routines
Jesus came across Simon at a moment that Simon might have seen as inconvenient. After the long hours of catching nothing out on the water and then the routine cleaning of the nets (a very meticulous process), Jesus asked if Simon would allow him to use his boat for a sermon. God likes doing that, meeting us where we are in life. It isn’t always about leaving everything we know to follow Him, it can be as simple as allowing God to use our routines for His glory. This means day-to-day tasks of grocery shopping and interactions with coworkers; these are moments God wants to use us to share his love!
What is your fishing boat? What is God asking to use in your daily life to further His kingdom?
2. In using us, God allows us to grow closer to Him
Simon Peter allowed Jesus to use his boat, where spent each day laboring. They pushed it out to shallow water so that Jesus could speak to all of the people on the shore.
I have a good feeling that whatever Jesus spoke about to the crowd that day wasn’t just for the crowd. Simon had a front row seat to Jesus’ revolutionary message on Love. This wasn’t coincidence that Jesus came across Simon Peter’s boat.
God will use the things He does for the masses to be closer to you. He didn’t need that boat. Just like He doesn’t need me on this mission trip. He called me on the World Race to love the people of the world, yes, but during this time He has given me a more intimate view of Him.
3. Move beyond skepticism
After the sermon, Jesus asked if Simon would push the boat out to deeper waters to catch some fish. This meant throwing out the nets he had just cleaned.
I can just imagine how I would’ve reacted if I were in Simon’s sandals. “DUDE. I was out there for hours and caught nothing. I JUST cleaned my nets. Wasn’t it enough that I let you use my boat for the sermon?”
And then he does it. Simon pushes out to deeper waters, in faith that what Jesus said would actually happen. Learning to step out in faith and trust isn’t always easy, but it is necessary for our journey with Christ.
4. Keep heading to the deep
If Jesus was capable of making fish swim into Simon’s nets, I have faith to believe that He could make that happen in the shallow water where they were first anchored. Maybe there is some significance here that we shouldn’t skim over. Maybe this was the perfect amount of time that Simon needed to process some things that God was laying on his heart. Maybe these times – which could be months or even years – of moving and preparing for the next moment of obedience are monumentally significant. This is when you can decide; to turn the boat around to what you know from your past to be comfortable and true, or to continue believing in the promises God has made.
I’m sure as they went to deeper waters Simon had several things running through his head; the message Jesus had just share, how tired he was from the hours of work he thought to have escaped, if his nets would really be filled like Jesus had said…
They reached the deep. Simon had enough faith to go all the way out there, so you better believe he was going to throw the nets out, whether he thought it would be a success or not.
What happens?
Simon is proved wrong… very wrong. Two boat loads worth of wrong.
5. You aren’t restricted to your boat
Jesus then puts a new offer on the table: to be a fisher of men.
First Jesus tested Simon Peter’s faith in a place of comfort, a place that he was in every day. Then Jesus took it one step further, inviting Simon Peter to leave what he knew and test his faith in a world of unknowns.
God wants to use you in your fishing boat, in the every day comforts that you hold. God is also asking if you would leave behind your boat and follow him to places you are not comfortable. Simon was amazed by the two boatloads worth of fish, but he could not be prepared for the numerous miracles he would witness the next three years with Jesus. Be expectant of God to move in miraculous ways in your life, but don’t limit God to the boat you keep yourself in.
Where is God calling you to be a fisher of men?
