Our message this week came from Luke 5:4-10
4Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
5And 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.
6And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
7And 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.
8When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
9For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
10And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
As Christians, it is very important that we examine this set of scriptures. Just reading the above scriptures, it sounds like a story of an amazing fishing trip but it is much more than that. This is a lesson for our daily lives as Christians. Something happened here that we all need to look at. We are given so much in these scriptures. We are given instructions and actions, a reward, and a conviction all within these verses.
The first is: To launch out into the deep and get ready for your catch.
If we are going to do what God expects of us, we can't stay in the shallow end of the pool and expect to catch fish. God tells us to launch out into the deep. We go to church and ask people to go to church with us but how many of us are really launching out in the deep? We ask those that we know and rarely even make eye contact with strangers. All too often we are trying to catch fish in the shallow, comfortable end of the pool. We can't win people to Christ by playing it safe. We have to be willing to start conversation and get out of the comfort zone if we are going to truly do what God expects us to do. I think about a mission trip I went on my junior year in college. I attended a trip called Beach Reach where college students traveled to Panama City Beach, Florida the week of spring break to witness to kids our own age. Do you know how hard it is to witness to people your own age? We were stepping out into the least expected place a Christian would ever think about being. We walked around in bar parking lots handing out cards inviting these teens to come to our free pancake breakfast where we planned on feeding them and witnessing to them. We offered free van rides from bar to bar but while they were in our van we would witness to them. We walked the beach handing out our cards to teens and witnessing to them right there on the beach. It was scary but rewarding. Talk about launching out into the deep. You wouldn't expect to see a bunch of Christians walking around a bar parking lot, but we did all to get God's word out. This is the type of witnessing we are to be doing. Many times Christians avoid going to places Christians shouldn't be, but really if we are to do what God tells us, we shouldn't be avoiding those places but going there with the intent to win those people to Christ. Witness to the lady checking you out at the grocery store, witness to the person trying to sell you a new cell phone in the mall, instead of just inviting your next door neighbor (though you should do that too.) We are to witness to everyone we meet whether we are comfortable or not. Jesus tells us to launch out into the deep. This is an instruction.
The second is: to be ready "AT HIS WORD"
Whether we are catching anything or not, we ar to act on God's word and not become discouraged. The scriptures tell us that Simon spoke of toiling all through the night and still not catching anything. In our case, we may be trying to catch fish but sadly without our nets cast. Often times, we think we know exactly what we are doing and don't want to be told what to do, but are we acting on God's will or are we conforming Him to ours? Our pride often gets in the way of our ability to witness to others. If we would just do what God is telling us to do and rely on His word through prayer and faith, we would catch a lot more fish. As soon as Simon Peter casts that net as God tells him to, he begins to catch so many fish they need more boats. Wouldn't it be amazing to have so many new believers in Christ that we need to build more churches to accomodate them? Or make bigger Sunday School rooms to accomodate all the kids? Are we acting on God's will? When Simon Peter acted on God's word he needed help with all those fish! Until we start yelling for help.....we really aren't fishing!
Third: Look at what happened though....when everyone saw what was happening they were amazed! From that day on they all went out to the deep to fish. Think about it.....it only took that happening one time and then it caught on with everyone else. It only takes one spark to get a fire going. It only takes one to make a difference. It is like planting one kernal of corn.....you end up with two ears full of more kernals to plant. We are to plant and sow seeds so that those people also plant and sow seeds. A Christian walk is to be like a ripple that spreads out and makes more ripples. You witness to one person in the deep unexpected location and they will do the same. One person turns to two, then four, then eight. And then God smiles.
It's time to launch out into the deep and do some fishin!
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