He (Jesus) said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”- Luke 5:4-5
In Chapter 5 (“Try Again- Discouraged People”) of Next Door Savior, Max Lucado describes the characteristics of a look that says, “It’s too late.” That look includes rolling one’s eyes, a shaking of the head, and pursing of the lips. Surely Simon Peter thought it was too late when Jesus told him to try again to catch fish. Peter had worked all night and caught nothing. He’d experienced a hard day’s night.
Pastor Lucado observes that we all have worn, wet, empty nets:
“You’ve felt what Peter felt. You’ve sat where Peter sat. And now Jesus is asking you to go fishing. He knows your nets are empty. He knows your heart is weary. He knows you’d like nothing more than to turn your back on the mess and call it a life. But he says, ‘It’s not too late to try again.’ ”
Rather than throw in the towel, Pastor Lucado encourages us to ask ourselves two questions:
1. Have you given Christ your dead-end dilemma? Have you really turned it over to him?
2. Have you gone deep? Have you bypassed the surface-water solutions you can see in search of the deep-channel provisions God can give?
Today’s question (Study Guide): In what way might Jesus be asking you to “go fishing”? Please share.
New addition to Crown Jewels: “Unpacking anxiety”
Tomorrow’s blog: “A cure for the common life”
