Luke 5: 1-11
5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a] the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 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.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
5 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.”6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 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.8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Notice that up until the end of the passage this event was mainly between Simon and Jesus. It was Simon who allowed Jesus to teach from his boat. It was Simon whom Jesus commanded to go back into the water, and it was Simon who obeyed him. However because of his faithfulness, James and John also experience the miracle and the breakthrough. Then, we see that in the following verse Jesus says that they are all called to leave behind their nets and to be fishers of men.
Just as Simon's obedience brought in bounty and blessing for he and his friends, as you walk in obedience to the Lord your breakthrough will affect those around you. You will bring those around you into an encounter and ultimately a relationship with Christ. Are you being obedient despite how crazy it sounds? If not you may not only be holding yourself back from your destiny but also those around you. Your obedience has the power to create an encounter that not only changes your destiny but changes the destiny of those who you surround yourself with. Had Simon not been obedient would all of the men simply continued to be fishermen? We don't know, but we do know that because Simon listened and obeyed he witnessed a powerful miracle before his very eyes, not only he but all of those around him saw it and were amazed! As a result every single one of them decided to follow Christ.
We are in a season where just as Jesus told the men to leave their nets and follow him, God is calling people to begin walking in their God given destiny. If you are hearing the Lord asking something of you be careful to listen to His voice, you never know when your obedience to the Lord will prompt Him to open a new door in not only your life but those around you. Maybe you are reading this today and you feel like you missed the call of the Lord for your life, repent for not being obedient to His voice and ask Him to begin re-positioning you to walk in the fullness of who you were created to be.
As we look at the last part of verse 10, Jesus speaks identity and destiny over these men. He says "Do not be afraid; from now on you will fish for people". I have heard this point preached on a few different occasions but I am not sure we take it to heart like we should.
Think about this..
As they obeyed they pulled in a multitude of fish so great that it tore their nets and their boats began to sink. This is a professional fisherman's dream come true! What more could they have wanted? I'm sure as they pulled in those fish they were counting the dollars they could make with this catch.
Imagine yourself at your own job, all of a sudden you get promoted to the position you have been dreaming of! How exciting! Higher salary, benefits, paid vacation, the whole package! You're probably already planning that trip you've always wanted to take with your family.... What would your response be?
But what do these men do? As soon as they haul in this massive catch they dock their boat and Simon throws himself at the feet of Jesus and says " Go away from me, Lord. I am a sinful man."
Why?... Blessing should always bring humility and gratitude. We often struggle with this. We may tend to hold our head a little higher and think "Alright! Finally things are starting to go my way." We've all done it, but this is a dangerous attitude. This attitude is the fruit of an entitlement mentality. Beware (BE- AWARE) of thoughts like this because it reveals that in our heart we feel like we deserve for things to go the way we want. As Christians we often fail to seek the Lord in blessing. When life is hard, we scramble to our prayer closets and seek the Lord for breakthrough. But when the Lord finally does bring us out of our season of hardship how many of us are still hitting our knees like we should be? I know I struggle with that myself. Peter shows us in this passage what the correct response is to a season of breakthrough. He bows before the Lord and he is brought to humility by this blessing. Instead of the entitlement mentality he actually points out how unworthy he is because of the sin in his life.
Breakthrough should yield two things in your life...
1. humility and repentance
2. new levels of obedience
Just after this conversation with Jesus the guys leave their big catch and their entire lively hood on the beach. Boats, nets, and a mountain of fish just left on the shore... Are you ready to leave it all behind if the Lord says to you "Come follow me"? They didn't say "Hey wait, let me sell all this fish you just blessed me with. And let me sell my boat or find a friend to give it to." They had no fallback plan, they simply left it there on the beach. This was their response in verse 11..." So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything, and followed him". This is that new level of obedience I mentioned above. Jesus said to them "Do not be afraid. From now on you will fish for people". Why did this require a higher level of obedience? Because this made absolutely no sense to them! They left everything they owned, everything they had to go do something that made no sense to them at all!
I want to encourage some of you and challenge others. Just like these men, God is calling some of you to do things that make absolutely no sense in the natural. Ward and I experienced this ourselves after we spent six months remodeling a house and were then called to move full time to Cambodia. We sold our new car, and left the house that we had just invested so much time and money into, but it was all part of God's plan to get us where we needed to be.
God is calling people into "deeper water", to do things that you don't yet understand. Do not worry what others say or think. You have to answer to the Lord for your own life, so step out in obedience if you are hearing His voice. I can promise it's a wild adventure but it's worth every moment!
So to recap our Fishing Stories from Luke 5 1:11
- Obedience is a Test of the Heart, don't allow offense to keep you from walking in obedience to what God is asking of you.
- Obedience Positions you for Breakthrough
- It's Time to Prepare our Nets for Harvest, don't let your nets tear or the boats sink with the soon coming harvest.
- Obedience has the ability to bring both us and those around us into our God given Kingdom Assignment
- Breakthrough should Produce Humility and Repentance, beware of the entitlement mentality.
- Breakthrough that comes from an act of obedience requires greater levels of obedience in the future.
In my next blog I am going to share one last fishing story, but this time we will be looking at the very similar fishing encounter found in John 21. Thank you for reading! I hope that the Lord met you and spoke to your heart as you read this series!
Much love and many blessings,
Arie!
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