Obey Anyway
Opening Prayer
Jesus, You are Lord of my life. Teach me to follow regardless of feelings or questions.
Read LUKE 5:1-11
[1] One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. [2] He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. [3] He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. [4] When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” [5] Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” [6] When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. [7] So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. [8] When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” [9] For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, [10] and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” [11] So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What did Peter learn?Having heard Jesus speak at the synagogue, then seeing him heal his mother-in-law and many others (4:39,40), Simon now finds himself providing a platform for Jesus’ public teaching. He has had plenty of opportunities to be close to Jesus, listening to his words and watching his actions.Then Jesus takes Simon by surprise: he tells Simon to go fishing (4)! Simon is not convinced of the wisdom of this, and he expresses his professional opinion that there is no point trying again as they caught nothing the previous night (5a). Nevertheless, he is willing to give it a go because he has seen the authority of Jesus’ words (5b). Sometimes living the way Jesus tells us to doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense. Sometimes, like Simon, we think we know better. This miracle teaches us to obey anyway. Simon doesn’t actually seem to have believed that he would catch anything, but he still did what Jesus said. Often we may feel that obeying Jesus isn’t going to achieve anything; that’s fine, as long as we obey anyway. Faith is not about how we feel but about doing what Jesus says in spite of our feelings.
Apply
Are you finding it difficult to obey Jesus in any way? Talk to him about your struggles and then obey.
Closing prayer
Father of my life, help me not seek to care for myself as if there is no God. Help me to obey You.
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