Luke 5
Bible Passage: Luke 5
The ministry of Jesus started to gather momentum now. Jesus knew that His time on earth would not be long and He needed faithful students and workers to continue the work of the Gospel after He leaves. So just in tis capter alone, we see Jesus calling His first few disciples – some fishermen and even a tax collector!
But even in the midst of all the good work of Jesus healing the sick and teaching with authority, there were the suspicious Pharisees and teachers of the law who were there… wondering who this Jesus was and trying to find fault with Him. This would be the precursor to the terrible actions of these so called religious leader that finally led to the death of Jesus on the cross.
“… Nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net”
These were the words spoken by Peter in Luke 5:5 in response to Jesus asking him to go out into the deep wayers and let down the nets for a catch. Peter and company had already toiled the whole night without success and was already tired. But when Peter did it in obedience to the word of the Lord – the results were amazing!
I remembered sharing this verse a couple of years ago when I was giving an encouragement prior to an evangelistic service. A sister had actually shared this with me and I found that the encouragement was very apt for all of us.
A lot of us have tried many times to preach to our friends, relatives and family members. Like Peter… we have toiled and laboured all night long… but the end result is still an empty net.
We have tried and we are tired. Tired of the rejections. Sick of hearing another “No!”. We are so used to not getting any results that we no longer try.
But as I shared in yesterday’s posting… we all know what the word of the Lord Jesus is…. we are to go out into the world and make disciples. We are to bring the good news to all mankind. We have a commission! So even if we feel tired, frustrated and hopeless… “nevertheless at Your (Jesus) word I will let down the net”. I will continue my preaching the Gospel.
The results this time when we obey the Word of the Lord may astound us. Just as Peter was when he let down his nets.
This encouragement was given before an evangelistic service. This same encouragement can be equally applied for after an evangelistic service. Because some of our friends did not turn up even though they said they would come. Some of our friends did not respond to the message. Some of our friends could not see what was so different about the truth in the Bible. Some of our friends even walked out during the prayer!
But does this mean we stop preaching? No!
Many people rejected Jesus when He was preaching. Some even directly challenged Him and rejected Him (like the Pharisees and teachers of the law here). But that did not stop Jesus from doing what was His purpose in life – to preach about the kingdom of God. We should not stop too.
Besides the commission to preach the Gospel, there are other things that Jesus tells us to do don’t seem to make any sense either: Love those who treat us badly (Luke 6:35). Pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44). Don’t take offence (Matthew 17:27). We badly want to keep the Word of God even though many around us do not think it is so important to keep to it.
Maybe we’ve already worked hard at continuing in a relationship that is difficult; worked hard at not saying the wrong thing; and worked hard at maintaining a peaceful disposition. His command to love others may be something we done dozens of times before but now in our current situation it’s not working. Our attempts at reconciliation, or even simple friendship, may be completely ineffective and Jesus’ words may not be what we want to hear.
But right now, Jesus was in effect saying this to Peter… “Try again! Forget what has happened in the past – whether you have succeeded or failed. Just do it again! Do it just for me!”
Peter did and the result was so overwhelming that he was suddenly aware of how unworthy he was to receive God’s blessing. But this act of obedience ultimately led him to understand God’s purpose for him in is life (Luke 5:11).
God calls us to persevere, even when what we are doing doesn’t seem to be working. All our hard work seems to produce no response. Yet we never know how close we are to a breakthrough. God will bless us if we persevere in obedience, even when our attitude lacks conviction and we think to ourselves “I’m only doing this because the Bible says so…”
May God bless and guide all of us.