UPDATEDToday’s Spiritual Food for Thought was first posted on August 14, 2013.

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“Did You Really Try It?”

Luke 5:1-11

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

I will share two thoughts from this passage.

First, be reminded that we have enough knowledge and experience in life to distinguish between what works and what does not work.  Someone said that the problem with Christianity is not that it does not work; but rather, since many simply assume it to be too difficult and impossible, it is left untried.  Jesus told Peter to do something that was completely out of line with his knowledge and experience.  He obeyed and it “worked,” that is, he experienced God.

Second, what would have happened if Peter just rejoiced over catching a large number of fish?  He would probably have thanked God for replacing a bad day with success.  At the end of the day, we all need to pause long enough to raise the following question: What do I consider as life’s success?  Is it fish (career) or encounter with the living God (holiness)? 

Prayer: Lord, help me to arise from the superficiality and the shallowness of my faith, and trust You for something difficult and impossible in the eyes of humans.  May I learn to obey You in all things, even against my knowledge based on human wisdom and limited experiences in life. Amen. 

Bible Reading for Today: Jude 1