Today's Scripture
TODAY’S READING SCHEDULE: 2 Chronicles 1-3; Luke 5:1-16
Because you say so – Luke 5:1-11
One day Jesus was standing beside Lake Gennesaret when the crowd pressed in around him to hear God’s word. 2 Jesus saw two boats sitting by the lake. The fishermen had gone ashore and were washing their nets. 3 Jesus boarded one of the boats, the one that belonged to Simon, then asked him to row out a little distance from the shore. Jesus sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4 When he finished speaking to the crowds, he said to Simon, “Row out farther, into the deep water, and drop your nets for a catch.”
5 Simon replied, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and caught nothing. But because you say so, I’ll drop the nets.”
6 So they dropped the nets and their catch was so huge that their nets were splitting. 7 They signaled for their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They filled both boats so full that they were about to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw the catch, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Leave me, Lord, for I’m a sinner!” 9 Peter and those with him were overcome with amazement because of the number of fish they caught. 10 James and John, Zebedee’s sons, were Simon’s partners and they were amazed too.
Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on, you will be fishing for people.” 11 As soon as they brought the boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.
What does this passage mean to me/us?
“If you say so.” (NIV) Peter response to Jesus’ request to throw the net into the deep water with these words. It shows that he had some resistance to following Jesus’ command. After all, he was a lifelong fisherman, frustrated since he couldn’t catch anything through the long night. If you think about the situation, he wasn’t even there, like all the others, to hear Jesus’ teaching. He happened to be at the place where Jesus came and hopped on his boat.
We see how his resentment quickly turning around as he “[Falls] at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Leave me, Lord, for I’m a sinner!'”
Like Peter, there might be times when we hear God leading us in a direction that might be familiar to us, but differently. Yes, when things get out of the norm, we can easily question and not want to follow. In those moments, I pray that we will be able to do and say what Peter did, “But because you say so, I’ll drop the nets.”
Prayer
Lord, help us to remember that you do your work, according to your ways. We want to be part of yourways. Lord have mercy on us, sinners!
In Christ Name we pray, AMEN.
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