Morning Moments

Above are the remains of a boat that is over 2,000 years old found in the area of Sea of Galilee.  It would be the kind of boat Jesus and his disciples used quite frequently in crossing the sea or sitting in the boat speaking to the crowd or out of which Peter would have gotten out to walk on the water to Jesus.

I have never been a fisherman.  Never care to fish much, but always have loved boats and the water.  As a young college student I remember sailing with some friends on Lake Dallas (I think that is what the lake was called).  I stayed for a week on another friend's sailboat for a week of vacation once, and deep sea fished a number of times but never owned a boat of my own.  There is something though about the tranquility of the water, the waves, the splashing of the fish, and all that goes on in nature around me in a boat that is so calming.

There is an interesting account in Luke 5 that always amazes me:

(Lk 5:1 HCSB) As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God’s word, He was standing by Lake Gennesaret. (2) He saw two boats at the edge of the lake; the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. (3) He got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then He sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat. (4) When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” (5) “Master,” Simon replied, “we’ve worked hard all night long and caught nothing! But at Your word, I’ll let down the nets.” (6) When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets began to tear. (7) So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. (8) When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!” (9) For he and all those with him were amazed at the catch of fish they took, (10) and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s partners. “Don’t be afraid,” Jesus told Simon. “From now on you will be catching people!” (11) Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed Him.

I can see -

The Crowd - vs 1 - Everybody was wanting to hear Jesus speak, but He had something to show a few men who knew what they were doing but seemed to have wasted time doing it that day.

The Crew - vs 2 - The fishermen were always doing something with their nets, either washing them, casting them, drawing them, or mending them.  Sorta the way we do with our lives in trying to clean ourselves us, throw ourselves away, pulling ourselves together, or patch ourselves up.

The Command - vs 3-4 - The boats were empty so the "Carpenter" got into Simon's (Peter), the fisherman's boat and asked him to put out a little from the land, where Jesus began teaching the crowd, but when Jesus finished teaching He told Simon to go out into the deep water, drop the nets to catch fish.  Now here was a carpenter telling a professional fisherman how to catch fish.  And, if you know Peter, you can imagine what might have gone through his mind at this point.

The Confusion - vs 5 - "Are you kidding me?" might have been his thought, but he did not express it.  So, Simon Peter, respectfully, with only a brief sarcastic comment does what Jesus says.

The Compliance - vs 6 - With the compliance, came an astounding consequence.  It always does and it is no coincidence.  When we obey, we always get what God wants us to have which is always more than we expect.  Simon, no doubt, expected this time the same results as last time - NOTHING!  But boy did he get a surprise.

The Catch - vs 7 - In fact, they pulled in so many fish that the nets began to break and they had to call for help and more nets to such an extent that they filled both boats to such that both boats were taking on water.  That's just like Jesus!  These guys were frantic and I can imagine Jesus thought it was fun.

The Conviction - vs 8 - Simon falls on his knees at this point with such conviction, realizing his sinfulness in the presence of The Son of God.  They were all amazed at what Jesus had done, but Simon saw the message beyond the miracle.

The Calm - vss 9-11- With the assurance of Jesus things calmed down, they chose to leave the fish and follow him and begin a new life fishing for men for that was their new commision.

What an amazing story of how Jesus uses everyday experiences to teach them and us how unimportant things are that disappoint us so much and get us so upset can be used of Him to show us how He can take such trivial things to teach us that following Him is most important anyway.

BLESSINGS!