When a sinking boat is a good thing!
Steel Sharpener
Just because you know better does not mean you will experience success. Most of us believe we have our area of expertise and we find it difficult to let others speak into that area where we are most secure and confident. Is it possible that there is wisdom from someone who is considered to be outside our specialty? Think about this. Most of us, including myself, would laugh if I walked into your place of business and started making recommendations. You would say, “What do you know about this business, you’re a pastor. Go teach a Bible study or something. Leave this to me.” Then the internal dialog, “The nerve of that guy.”
Peter was a professional fisherman along with his brother and they were in the business because their father was in the business. This was quite a natural succession in the first century culture. You were to become what your dad was, at least professionally. One night Peter and his brother had been working very hard to catch fish. They knew the waters, techniques, and the places where fish are caught. Yet on this night, they did everything right and the expedition yielded no results.
The following morning Peter and his crew were washing their nets out from the previous night’s attempt to grow the business. There was this itinerant rabbi that just happens to seat himself in one of their boats. Not only that, he tells Peter, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Really, Peter must have first thought?! “Mr. Rabbi, I am a fisherman and you are a rabbi, I have just had a horrible night on the water, we worked hard with no results.” Yet basic courtesy leads to a different outward response from Peter. Many times, for the sake of decorum, we answer publicly in a way that is contrary to our internal dialog.
“Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Peter permits Jesus to invite Himself into the situation. The result is that Peter needed help from another boat to bring in the nets and both boats were so full they began to sink. You can read it for yourself in Luke 5 but the results lead Peter to ask that the Lord leave him because he is a sin-filled man. The Lord Jesus simply invites Peter to join Him on the good news tour that will bless the world one person at a time. Peter left everything and followed him.
Think about something you are working really hard at but have not permitted Jesus to get into the boat with you. You seem to be doing everything right but aren’t getting the results you hoped for. Maybe it isn’t that you are doing something wrong, maybe you’re simply keeping the Savior out of it. You might be surprised, as was Peter, at the results when you simply follow the Savior’s lead in whatever it is your working so hard at. Think about it. Pray about it. Read more about it.
Stay Sharp
