Skip to main content

Four Important Words

In Luke 5, Peter and his fishing partners, James and John, have just come in from a night of work. They are cleaning their nets and getting ready to go home after a very unsuccessful night on the water. At that moment, Jesus comes along, gets into Peter’s boat and begins to teach a crowd of people who have gathered on the shore.

When he is done, Jesus turns to Peter and says, “Put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch” (verse 4). Peter does not want to go. He reminds Jesus that it is the wrong time of day, that they have been up all night and that they had not caught anything. He is not interesting is trying again.

Peter then says something that changes everything: “But because you say so, I will let down the nets” (verse 5).

Peter overcomes his complaints, his circumstances, and his lack of success and decides to do what Christ asks him to whether it makes sense or not. The result is that they catch so many fish that they almost sink both boats. After seeing what Jesus could do, it says, “So they pulled their boats on shore, left everything and followed him” (verse 11).

The hardest part about faith is not the “learning” part but the “doing” part. All of us can come up with numerous reasons why we cannot do what we know we should be doing. Excuses are abundant, but obedience brings results.

“Because you say so…” are four important words.

What is God asking you to do? Are you willing to do it?

Who knows? Maybe God is just waiting for you to “go out into the deep water” so that he can “fill your boat”.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    

Consider This: What is so Great About Grace?

If you were to drive by our house, you would see that Sara loves plants.  Our yard is full of flowers, and Sara lovingly tends every one of them. Which is why I was so afraid when she left town and put me in charge of keeping things alive. She must have been a little concerned, too, because she sent me two videos with specific instructions on how to water, when to water, and what to do.  Honestly, those first two videos helped, but the third one she sent was the one I liked most.  In that one, she said, “Please do your best. I want the yard to look good for the family reunion in two weeks.  However, if something dies, we will dig it out and pretend that it never existed!” That is what grace looks like!  Try your best, do what you can, but if it goes wrong, it will be ok. Sometimes we talk as though grace and effort are opposites.  That is not true.  They are partners. In one place, scripture asks, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone c...

Consider This: Press The Button!

  Consider This:  Press the Button! My favourite TV game show is Jeopardy.  I used to like it even more when my kids were younger, because I could easily beat them and look smart.  These days, after they have grown up and gone to university, it is much more difficult.  However, Jeopardy is still the only game show I will watch. In a book I read, a contestant who did very well on the show shared the secret to his success.  He said (and I am paraphrasing here), “You must press the button before you know the answer.  Everyone on Jeopardy is smart. Everyone knows the answer. The key to winning is to act.  You must jump in and press the button, assuming that your brain will catch up and supply the answer.  If you wait until you are sure, you will be too late!” Press the button! Too often, we hesitate, not because we do not know what to do, but because we do not want to do it.  Sometimes, we fail to act because we are not sure how the situatio...