Casting Our Nets

I really like this one. In Luke 5:1-9 we follow Jesus to the Sea of Galilee where, after preaching to a crowd from Peter’s boat, He tells Peter to go out into deeper water and lower his nets. Peter is quick to reply that he’d been toiling all night and caught nothing. But he stops short of telling Jesus he thinks His suggestion is foolish. Instead, Peter does what Jesus asks. And what do you know? His nets nab so many fish they nearly break and Peter has to call his partners in another boat to come over and help haul in the catch.

How like Peter we are. We toil and toil on our own, often accomplishing little or nothing, when we should have waited for a word from the Lord. Just one word from Him can make all the difference between success and failure. How often I’ve run ahead and tried to work things out on my own, and then when I’ve felt utterly defeated, Jesus comes along and points me in the right direction, changing everything. It reminds me of Psalm 127:1 that says “unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain who build it.” That can be said of all our endeavors. So why continue trying to do things without God?

The other thing I really like about this passage is how considerate Jesus is. Peter worked all night trying to catch fish and yet was obedient by taking Jesus in his boat just off shore while Jesus spoke to the crowd. If I’d been up all night I think I’d be off somewhere sleeping. But Peter’s sacrifice and obedience did not go unnoticed. For after Jesus finished addressing the crowd, he instructed Peter to lower his nets, knowing full well the outcome. The point is, we can never outdo Jesus. He is aware of our obedience and those times we may be inconvenienced or suffer for His sake. And though we may not always believe this or experience it immediately in our lives, Jesus will reward us with His peace, His joy and yes, sometimes with unbelievable success at our jobs or endeavors.

So when we cast our own nets, let us do it according to God’s direction. The outcome is sure to be greater than we can imagine.

Until next time,

Sylvia