"LOWER YOUR NETS FOR A CATCH"
When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Now take the boat into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch." (Luke 5:4)
On the day that he became a disciple of Christ, Simon and his crew were washing their nets after a discouraging night of lake fishing. Nearby, a crowd gathered around Jesus to hear him teach. When the people began to press in on him, Jesus boarded Simon's boat and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Removed from the press of the crowd, Jesus was still near enough to be seen and heard.
When he finished speaking, Jesus instructed Simon to take the boat out to the deep water and lower his nets. A professional fisherman, not a carpenter like Jesus, Simon explained that he and his crew had worked that part of the lake during the night and had caught nothing. Although Simon no doubt suspected that the effort would be a waste of time, he agreed nonetheless. "Because you say so," he said to Jesus, "I will let down the nets."
Returning to work would have seemed far less a chore had Jesus directed the men to a different part of the lake, but he didn't. Jesus had a miracle in store for Simon and his men, and that's exactly what their effort brought forth. The crew caught such a large number of fish that their nets threatened to break and they had to signal for help from their partners in another boat.
Before working his miracle, Jesus had asked Simon to do two things: Return to the place of your discouragement, and then try again. Like Simon and his crew, we know well what it's like to raise an empty net again and again. If only we could go some place new when we get discouraged, then it might not be so hard to try again, to find fresh faith and courage.
But spiritual growth requires that we follow the Lord's lead. Sometimes this means that we must lower our nets into the same waters again and again. The effort is meant to draw a miracle onto our boat: a relationship restored or a character flaw perfected, old wrongs forgiven or disappointments forgotten, a newfound compassion, a crosswind withstood, or a heart that is finally healing.
"Set out into the deep," our Lord invites us, "and lower your nets for a catch."
On the day that he became a disciple of Christ, Simon and his crew were washing their nets after a discouraging night of lake fishing. Nearby, a crowd gathered around Jesus to hear him teach. When the people began to press in on him, Jesus boarded Simon's boat and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Removed from the press of the crowd, Jesus was still near enough to be seen and heard.
When he finished speaking, Jesus instructed Simon to take the boat out to the deep water and lower his nets. A professional fisherman, not a carpenter like Jesus, Simon explained that he and his crew had worked that part of the lake during the night and had caught nothing. Although Simon no doubt suspected that the effort would be a waste of time, he agreed nonetheless. "Because you say so," he said to Jesus, "I will let down the nets."
Returning to work would have seemed far less a chore had Jesus directed the men to a different part of the lake, but he didn't. Jesus had a miracle in store for Simon and his men, and that's exactly what their effort brought forth. The crew caught such a large number of fish that their nets threatened to break and they had to signal for help from their partners in another boat.
Before working his miracle, Jesus had asked Simon to do two things: Return to the place of your discouragement, and then try again. Like Simon and his crew, we know well what it's like to raise an empty net again and again. If only we could go some place new when we get discouraged, then it might not be so hard to try again, to find fresh faith and courage.
But spiritual growth requires that we follow the Lord's lead. Sometimes this means that we must lower our nets into the same waters again and again. The effort is meant to draw a miracle onto our boat: a relationship restored or a character flaw perfected, old wrongs forgiven or disappointments forgotten, a newfound compassion, a crosswind withstood, or a heart that is finally healing.
"Set out into the deep," our Lord invites us, "and lower your nets for a catch."
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