Luke 5:1-11…
The crowd was pressing in to hear the word of God, but the vision of just how glorious was the Teacher came to Peter. The word of Christ goes out, it teaches, but then Jesus calls someone to see what they were hearing.
Jesus announced good news to Peter. He wasn’t saying, “You’ve tried that, now try this”. He was saying, “Do this because I have already ordained its success”. Jesus knows where the fish are, He is the one who sets up the catch. Jesus is God, and God is the one who brings the fish into the net. Peter is learning the lesson of listening, and he obeys the word. Upon seeing with obedient eyes, the word of the Word reaches him, and then he reaches out, for help. In the light of Jesus, Peter goes from confidence to contrition (Isaiah 6:5).
Too often we cannot get a holy handle on temporal wealth, because we are spoiled with our own ideas of success. It is not wrong to do well, and it is right to be excellent about your work. But we must remember the real work. If I’m looking for the wrong sort of success, and I find Jesus, I find out I’m sinful. Jesus can bust the nets and sink the boats, but if you think that is what He is about, well, you haven’t actually heard Him. What He is about is getting you to listen to Him, not for your success, as you would define it, but for your obedience, which is success as He defines it. Jesus was telling Peter, “I could make you the most successful person ever at your current profession, but now you are to be my possession, and so on to new work you go.” He will show us what He wants, and He will give us what we need, if we will do it (Matthew 6:33).
It is not for fear; the other things you think you want are what bring the fear when you can’t, don’t, or won’t have them. Instead, the perfect love of Jesus drives out fear (1 John 4:18). He is transforming your whole essence, how you think, how you hear, how you see, what you say, how you behave, what you believe, what you do. If you follow His way, you will see His fish, they are right there for the catching.
He is the catch: be willing to leave everything else behind.
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