Letting the Nets Down

“Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets…and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.” Luke 5:5 & 7

Simon Peter was a fisherman by trade with his boat being his means for success. He had been out all night doing the ordinary that he had done many times before. After his nets were cleaned and his little boat was sitting on the side of the shore, Jesus asked Peter to push them out from shore as He was teaching the crowd about the word of God. After teaching, Jesus asked Peter to cast his nets on the side of the boat in deep water for a catch. I am sure that Peter was thinking that he was tired from fishing all night and he had just finished cleaning up everything for the day. However, Peter cast his net not because he believed the yield would be great but because of his obedience and respect to Jesus. The story states that the nets were so full that the boat began to sink.

I love this story for it speaks on the importance of God’s timing and instruction in our lives.

As we journey through our day most of us experience the mundane, the repetitive and the constant duties of our job. To think that at any moment God can use something we have done a million times before and bring about a miraculous blessing for us and those in our lives leaves me humble. The gratitude of what He accomplishes daily through our works and the anticipation of what is to come lures me to continue “casting that net” in waters as He determines.

If Peter would not have lowered the nets he would have missed out on the yield just as we will miss out on blessings if we do not anchor ourselves in obedience and trust in both His timing and the instructions.

Jesus used that ordinary little boat to display the extraordinary works of God through Him and many were blessed. Are you letting down your nets?