"[Jesus] said to Simon, 'Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.' But Simon...." (Luke 5:4, 5a)
....knew better.
Jesus tells them to, "Launch out into the deep," but the professionals said that as professionals they had done all which their wisdom, experience, and savvy could do. If there are no fish out there, there are just no fish. Now I don't mean to take the "miracle" aspect out of our text, but I wonder if Jesus just "outsmarted" the professionals. Maybe Jesus saw something in the "natural world" which they did not. Maybe they were so caught up in routine, always doing it a certain way, leaning on their own understanding that they just may have missed something. It is good to listen to other people. Sometimes they just may have something, see something which you have overlooked, for whatever reason. In our text, Jesus, "Who is made to us wisdom from God," became Peter's Wisdom."
There could be something here similar to what I often notice about the David and Goliath "incident." It is always touted as some miracle, when the reality is that there were many of the Jews in Saul's army who could have done what David did. One Biblical record says of some Jewish men, "....every one could sling a stone at a hair's breadth and not miss." Too many times we like to make "miracles" out of Biblical texts because many think that somehow the "miracle" status excuses them; that's for the really "spiritual," you know, the ones who get very rich in book and speaking fees.
So many times there is the, "we have...caught nothing," in us. We tried something, some endeavor, or just life itself and, "caught nothing." We come to the defeatist conclusion that we gave it our best shot, but it just isn't working. We go back to "shore" and mope, "Woe is me. I just can't do anything; nothing ever works." But then Jesus "comes along" and says, "Launch out into the deep...." Maybe it's, "Go where you have not gone before." Or maybe it's, "You have been doing life the same way so long that you cannot see My way. You have prayed, worshiped, read the Bible, do good works, but in it all there is the underlying self-made person of, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing." Or, "We tried that, and it doesn't work."
Maybe what we all need is a renewal in, "nevertheless at Your word." Could we all be "ripe" for revival, renewal, restoration, or whatever it is which brings us back to the simplicity of Jesus, believing Jesus, obeying Jesus, reading His Words in a way which is not dominated by, "O, I've read and heard that so many times before." Away with such a life style. Today, join me in a renewed, "nevertheless at Your word...."
Father, in Jesus' Name, maybe I have too much in me of, "...."We have toiled all night and caught nothing." I pray for a renewed, "....Nevertheless at Your word...." Amen.
**************************
* Some on our devotional list have reported from time to time that our devotionals go to their spam folder. If you don't receive them for a while, perhaps it's the old "spam" demon at work.
....knew better.
Jesus tells them to, "Launch out into the deep," but the professionals said that as professionals they had done all which their wisdom, experience, and savvy could do. If there are no fish out there, there are just no fish. Now I don't mean to take the "miracle" aspect out of our text, but I wonder if Jesus just "outsmarted" the professionals. Maybe Jesus saw something in the "natural world" which they did not. Maybe they were so caught up in routine, always doing it a certain way, leaning on their own understanding that they just may have missed something. It is good to listen to other people. Sometimes they just may have something, see something which you have overlooked, for whatever reason. In our text, Jesus, "Who is made to us wisdom from God," became Peter's Wisdom."
There could be something here similar to what I often notice about the David and Goliath "incident." It is always touted as some miracle, when the reality is that there were many of the Jews in Saul's army who could have done what David did. One Biblical record says of some Jewish men, "....every one could sling a stone at a hair's breadth and not miss." Too many times we like to make "miracles" out of Biblical texts because many think that somehow the "miracle" status excuses them; that's for the really "spiritual," you know, the ones who get very rich in book and speaking fees.
So many times there is the, "we have...caught nothing," in us. We tried something, some endeavor, or just life itself and, "caught nothing." We come to the defeatist conclusion that we gave it our best shot, but it just isn't working. We go back to "shore" and mope, "Woe is me. I just can't do anything; nothing ever works." But then Jesus "comes along" and says, "Launch out into the deep...." Maybe it's, "Go where you have not gone before." Or maybe it's, "You have been doing life the same way so long that you cannot see My way. You have prayed, worshiped, read the Bible, do good works, but in it all there is the underlying self-made person of, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing." Or, "We tried that, and it doesn't work."
Maybe what we all need is a renewal in, "nevertheless at Your word." Could we all be "ripe" for revival, renewal, restoration, or whatever it is which brings us back to the simplicity of Jesus, believing Jesus, obeying Jesus, reading His Words in a way which is not dominated by, "O, I've read and heard that so many times before." Away with such a life style. Today, join me in a renewed, "nevertheless at Your word...."
Father, in Jesus' Name, maybe I have too much in me of, "...."We have toiled all night and caught nothing." I pray for a renewed, "....Nevertheless at Your word...." Amen.
**************************
* Some on our devotional list have reported from time to time that our devotionals go to their spam folder. If you don't receive them for a while, perhaps it's the old "spam" demon at work.
* March Mission: March 9-31
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
