Walk Of Life – Day 11, May 2022 – Thoughts From The Words Of Jesus Christ
The Miracle Of Abundant Catch of Fish
When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.Luke 5:6
In the account of Jesus’ miracle of the great catch of fish (Luke 5:1-11), Luke calls the Sea of Galilee the “Lake of Gennesaret,” a more ancient name that derives from the name of a small plain on its western shore. On this occasion, while standing in the boat in which Simon Peter had spent the whole—and very unsuccessful—night fishing, Jesus teaches those who wanted to hear the Word of God. Afterward, He tells Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” The man’s reply is typical of an experienced fisherman: “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing.” and then his tone changes.
The key words in this entire lesson is this. Peter responded, “Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.”
Peter obeyed the instruction which Jesus gave, even though he couldn’t see any rhyme or reason to what Jesus was saying. The theme of the lesson in this article is “Obedience.” That’s what Peter did. He obeyed the Word of the Lord—and every believer should set out to do likewise!
The net went into the water and immediately they caught such a large number of fish that the net began to break. They summoned another boat to come and help them, and both boats were so full of fish that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”
Working for long hours trying to catch fish yet without results was exhausting and discouraging for the fishermen. Peter tells Jesus that they had fished all day with no results, but reluctantly obeys Jesus’ command to try again. Jesus commands Peter to let down his ‘nets’ (plural), yet Peter replies with ‘net’ (singular). Peter’s reluctant obedience is half-hearted. It’s obvious that Peter probably thinks the result would be the same as his earlier lack of fish. His unbelieving thoughts show in his unenthusiastic obedience. At this early stage, Peter is still learning about the power of God.
What can we learn through this miracle? When Christ speaks, we should listen and obey His commands. In this case, this miracle affected the work and livelihood of the obedient fishermen. God wants us to be successful in everything we do. He always has our best interest.
Had Peter failed to obey Christ’s command, he would have been unable to experience both the miracle and the blessing. When we serve, obey and sacrifice, God will reward our efforts with abundant blessings, sometimes even more than what we can imagine. Our nets and our hearts will be overflowing. We need to remember that it was Jesus Christ who chose the disciple and Jesus invited them to follow Him. Jesus calls us to be fishers of men not because we do great things, or because we are beautiful people. We are called because we are wanted by Jesus to follow Him. The disciples chosen came from various vocations in life—fishermen, tax collectors, political zealots, and other ordinary people. Jesus takes weak, sinful human beings and transforms them into useful vessels for God’s service.
Jesus does not want us to be fishers of the church He wants us to be fishers of men. To be fishers of men it takes following Jesus and He makes us fishers of men. First we must follow Him.
