Luk 5:1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
Luk 5:2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
Luk 5:3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
Luk 5:4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
Luk 5:5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
Luk 5:6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
Luk 5:7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
Jesus taught these people from a boat after they had been fishing ALL NIGHT. They have not caught ANYTHING. I can imagine in my minds eye, These folks were a little aggravated. These people were self employed and in a whole nights work they didn't make any money. I can imagine they were tired and ready to go home. They were trying to finish there work day by cleaning their equipment and getting everything ready so they could go home and get some sleep.
Then comes Jesus. He had a serious bunch of folks following him and the only reason for this bunch of people being behind Jesus was "to hear the word of God". Now these folks knew Jesus had something to say, and they were hungry for "the word of God". Now I'm sure these people had plenty of other things to do. I am also sure some of them were probably not feeling the best that they could, but they were there none the less. I am also sure nothing was stopping them from turning around and going home, except a hunger for "the word of God". Oh how I wish we could get a hunger in this generation.
It seems to be today if we stub our toe, that is a good enough excuse to miss church. We get a belly ache in our head and miss the chance to get the "word of God". The thing that makes it even worse is that if we are going on a fishing trip, race track, concert, or wherever, the worst headache, stomach ache, even a virus will not be enough to keep us away from our trip.
Now Jesus is getting into one of the fisherman's boats. Simon was working on getting things done to go home, but Jesus asked him to push out away from the shore a little bit. Then Jesus sat down and started talking. The bible does not tell how long Jesus taught. He may have been speaking for fifteen minutes, or three hours, but Simon had already put a long hard nights work on the clock. I am sure Simon was probably wore out, but he made himself available anyway.
When Jesus quit teaching, however long that may have been, He told Simon to "launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught". Now the word "draught" does not mean to TRY to catch fish. What "draught" does mean in for a catching or a haul. Now there is a huge difference in going "fishing" and going "catching".
Still you have to understand Simon had been out ALL NIGHT fishing and has caught NOTHING. He explains this to Jesus and then says "nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net".
If you would notice the difference in the "word of God" in verse 4 and action of Simon in verse 5. Jesus said "let down your nets" and Simon said "I will let down the net". Jesus was giving a multiple nets blessing, and Simon was not expecting anything ,so he done the very minimum he could do and only put one net down. This alone I believe tells us a little about Simon's attitude, however he still made himself available.
Then even in the doubt of Simon's faith but the availability of his services, they caught soooo many fish, Simon's single net could not handle the abundance of the blessing Jesus had given. Simon had such a blessing that he could not carry it by himself. Then God used Simon's blessing to reach those around him. Simon had to call the others from the shore to get in their boat and come help.
We need to let God use us to reach those around us.
Here is where it gets amazing.
These fisherman had "toiled all night, and have taken nothing". There were multiple boats in the water and nothing had been caught. The only thing different between all night of fishing and the morning Jesus showed up was Jesus. Jesus had a crowd of people wanting to hear what he had to say, then he gets on the boat and there is a crowd of people wanting to hear him teach. The amazing thing about this is even the fish gathered at the sound of his voice.
Gen 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
Gen 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
Gen 1:23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
I cant help but to think when creation hears the voice of the Creator,
creation stops to take notice. Here the fish even got caught listening.
All creation was created by God speaking. When was the last time you heard God speak? Imagine the things God could create in you life if you would start listening for God to speak to you. I know I have lost loved ones. I know I have struggles with my flesh. I know I have things I need help with, but I also know my family has struggles, and situations, and circumstances we as people cannot solve on our own. If I was to make myself available, that I might receive enough blessing to pour out on those around me. I cannot afford to shut out God's word or His will for my life.
I have to be sensitive enough to receive God's word for myself. I don't want to be so spiritually lazy to have to let someone else get it for me. I am a husband and a father. My family cannot afford for me to be spiritually lazy. I have a lot at stake here.
We live in a generation where everyone is to busy to take notice of Gods word. We are to caught up the rat race to give God our time, ability, and availability. If we do not allow God's word in our lives, we will never see God's will. If we don not allow God's will in our lives, we will never see His abundant blessings. There is too much work to be done for God's kingdom to ignore His word and His will. Lets take a lesson from the fish and get caught listening.
Just a Carp
J.Loveless
