Fishers of men

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master we’ve worked hard all night. But because you say so, we will let down the nets.’ Luke 5: 4 – 5

Jesus had been teaching the crowd from Simon’s boat moored away from the edge of the water. This was a great idea as it meant that the crowd could both see and hear him as a voice carries well over water. After he had finished teaching, Jesus turned to Simon and started to meet Simon’s need. It was almost a situation of thanks for lending me your boat, now let me do you a favour. Jesus knew they had been fishing all night with no success and now he was going to meet Simon’s necessity for a successful catch of fish.

Simon had a choice – believe Jesus and act on it. In other words use his faith or let his mind tell him that Jesus knew nothing about fishing so ignore him. Simon knew though that whilst Jesus may not be a fisherman, he was a miracle worker.  Amongst many others, he had healed his mother-in-law so Jesus was trustworthy. It is interesting to note that Jesus said to put out into deep water - this was going to require faith – this was not a shoal of fish swimming conveniently along the surface but one swimming out of sight. 

Jesus proved trustworthy and they did not just catch a few fish, they caught so many that both Simon’s boat and his partner’s began to sink. I love the extravagance of Jesus who never does things by half measures. Simon was humbled.. He knew this was a MIRACLE – he was a fisherman and he knew this was a miraculous catch of fish.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me Lord; I am a sinful man.’ Luke 5: 8

Through the miracle Jesus provided Simon’s greater need – salvation.  Simon came face to face with his own sinful state as he realised that Jesus really was the Lord. No one else but God could have done what he had just witnessed. Like Abraham, Job and Isaiah before him he knew he was face to face with God and he was afraid. Jesus reassured him and told him not to be afraid but from now on he would be a fisher of men.

Jesus loves to break into our ordinary lives with miracles and bring us face to face not just with his miraculous provision but also with our greater need for a Saviour. He is calling us into his plans and purposes and like the fishermen, we too may need to drop everything and follow him. Jesus is calling us to trust him for everything; provision, salvation and calling. I doubt if Peter, Andrew, James and John every truly regretted their decision to drop everything and follow Jesus. How about you?

 

David and Jonathan 2

“Do not be afraid,” he (Jonathan) said, “my father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You shall be king over Israel and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.” The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. Then Jonathan went home but David remained at Horesh. I Samuel 23: 17 – 18
Jonathan would have made a much better king than Saul. He knew that a king of Israel ruled under the kingship of the Lord. He knew that battles were won because the Lord fought them and gave you victory. The only reason he did not become king was because of his father’s disobedience and foolish mistakes (13: 13 – 14). He knew his father’s kingship was doomed after Saul did not follow the Lord’s instructions when fighting the Amalekites (15: 28).

Jonathan fought bravely for the Lord and the Israelites and had great victories and was popular with the men (14:45). He supported David and spoke well of him to Saul even when Saul was trying to kill David.  He made a covenant with David before the Lord on several occasions.  He was committed to David but his loyalties must have been divided and I think this lead to one great mistake.

In the verses above Jonathan told David that he would be king – even Saul knew that – and he would be second to him. Jonathan was quite right; I am sure that was God’s plan but look what happened – Jonathan went home- he didn’t stay with David to work out the call of God on his life. The tragedy is that they never saw one another again and Jonathan died by his father’s side. He was meant to be second to David but having been loyal to David all through the difficult times, at this moment instead of staying with David, he went home.  He knew God’s plan, he committed himself to both God and David by making a covenant with David before the Lord but a false sense of loyalty took him in the wrong direction and he went home back to Saul and later died with him. He never fulfilled God’s plan for his life.
A false sense of loyalty can keep us in the wrong place too. It is important to know when to move on, when God is doing a new thing and how to go with it. Someone told me once they knew they were in the wrong church but it was too difficult to leave – so they stayed and were not fulfilling what God had planned for their lives.

Some people move church or ministry far too often and some do not move when they should. We need to be aware of when God is moving on and calling us to move too and not get stuck in situations that will neither fulfil our destinies nor bring God’s life to us. False loyalty can be a burdensome thing but if we remember that our first loyalty is to the Lord, he will guide us to the right places, churches and ministries in his timing.

 

The miraculous catch of fish

After his resurrection, Jesus met some of the disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee with a freshly cooked breakfast (John 21). The disciples had been fishing all night but with no success. When Jesus told them where to fish, they caught so many fish they could not get them into the boat and had to tow the net to shore.

I love these stories of Jesus and the miracles he did because they are so full of important details that we can learn from. Peter and the disciples had tried to fish all night with no success and this speaks of trying to do things in our own strength and not succeeding. When Jesus comes though and gives the word, the unsuccessful works suddenly become a miraculous work of God. We notice too that Jesus already had fish on the fire for the breakfast – where had they come from? However Jesus also adds some of their catch, which he had given them, to his own! This speaks of using our God given talents to be part of the work God is doing. We can also see that it took all of the disciples to haul the net in. This speaks of joining together to manage the harvest but notice the nets were not torn – nothing was lost despite its great size. If we put this in terms of souls saved, it is very encouraging what can be achieved if we pull together. 

Peter was called to become a fisher of men following the first miraculous catch of fish (Luke 5: 4 - 11). For the next three years he trained with Jesus with some success but he had not fully come into his calling. Following the second miraculous catch of fish, I wonder if Peter remembered the first miracle three years previously, for it was after the second miracle that he really started to fulfil his calling as a fisher of men. The breakthrough came on the day of Pentecost when, following Peter’s preaching, 3000 were saved. The book of Acts is full of times when Peter saw many people saved.

When we start out on the road to our God given calling, we may see a small amount of success at first but we need to keep training, keep letting God use us, keep persevering through the good and bad days. Like Peter, we need to keep going through our disappointments and our own weaknesses and failings. If we don’t give up, if we keep trusting God, then like Peter we will come into the fullness of all that God has planned and purposed for our lives. Today let us determine to keep going till we come to maturity.