Luke 5:4 “… He said to Simon, Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch, but Simon answered and said to Him Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; neverthelesss at your word I will let down this net,’ for you see, Simon in spite for his circumstances was able to put his trust in the Lord. He had toiled all night fishing and yet he caught nothing. Now Jesus tells him to cast his net over the boat; he has a decision to make to react in unbelief and refuse to do what is counterintuitive or to the trust in the Lord.
Simon was a professional fisherman and he knew that the fish that could be caught with a night normally migrated to deeper waters during the day and return to shallow waters during the night: thus the reason he was fishing all night. Simon also knew that the Lord was sovereign over all creation and he was obedient to his command. Luke 5:6 says, ” … when they [Simon] had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking…and they filled both boats so they began to sink.”
The results of following God’s plan was a blessing that was so great that there net could not contain it, even the boats where not large enough to contain the blessing of the Lord , to the point that ships where sinking. This is how wonderful God is. When he gives you a command or promise he is able to fulfill above our wildest expectations. We just have to trust him and take him for his word.
Notice Simon Peter’s reaction in verse 8-9: “[he] saw it [and] fell down to his knees, saying Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he all who where with him were astonished.” We as believers in Christ know what Peter was revealed to at that moment: the deity and lordship of Christ. Those who were around him were astonished by what the Lord had done.
We should not be astonished by the fulfillment of God’s commands and promises in our lives. We should come to depend on them and to expect them. They shall come. Now we do not know the time or the season. We do know though that it shall come exactly at the right time — dictated by the Lord himself.
Finally, Christians with being equipped with this knowledge should react as Simon, Peter, John and James did: “They forsook all and followed him.” We as Christians need to forsake everything that we our trusting in outside the Lord. We need to only put our trust in God and his promises. They are the only thing that is secure and trust worthy. Let’s walk in the light as our father does.
God bless you all; walk in the fear of the Lord and acknowledge that while man plans his ways, God directs his steps.
Many Start, Few Finish: Luke 5:12-15
In Luke 5:12-15 we find a man who has eprosy, a man totally in total desolation and completely; he needs a savoir
and known other. No one else but Jesus can cure this man of his incurable. All man is in this condition due to sin. It is just not as obvious or apparent as leprosy, but it is none less real.
This man approached Jesus as we all should: with worship and humility. In verse 12 ‘…saw Jesus he fell on his face and said Lord if you are willing, You can make me clean. ‘ Once he received his healing, verse 13 ‘immediately the leprosy left him’, He quickly became disobedient and forgetful of what the Lord commanded him. The Lord commanded, not suggested, that he was ‘to tell no one and but go show yourself to the priest…’ even though this commandment was
strange and was counterintuitive to the man, he was still required to be obedient to it.
Let this man be a lesson. So many of us start the race off strong but so few of us finish it. James 1:22 “… he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror, for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.” Let us be better than this. Let’s not forget the men we were, and the men we are striving to become.
The Christian life is a marathon not a sprint. Many have started off strong, but few and finished the race they have started.
Finally, the cleansed man reveals to us sometimes God commands us to do things that we don’t agree with or seem strange, but this shouldn’t be surprising to us for the Lord said ‘my ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are not
your thoughts.’ Are job as his slaves is not to question Him, Our Master, but to obey him – regardless if we agree or totally understand. This is part the process of renewing our minds.
Philippians 1:12 & 20 & 28-29 – God works all things for his glory.
God bless you; be blamess, upright, fear God, and shun evil — Job 1:1.