Friday, Feb. 19, 2010 Reading for the Day:
Luke 5:1-11 is another one of my favorite New Testament Scriptures? Why? Because in it we find Peter responding to Jesus—who just performed an amazing natural miracle—with abject fear. Here’s what happened. Peter, his brother, Andrew, James and John had been out fishing all night long. They caught nothing. As they were cleaning and repairing their nets, Jesus came along and asked them if He could use their boat as a stage. After He was done teaching, Jesus said, “Let’s go fishing!” Peter looked at Him and said, “We’ve already done that, and didn’t catch anything.” Remember, Peter was a fisherman and Jesus was a preacher. Peter must have thought, “Doesn’t this guy know anything? You don’t go fishing in the middle of the day—that’s why we fished all night, when the fish were active. But, Peter went along with Jesus, anyway. He took his boat out to the deep water, let down his nets, and WOW! The fish must have jumped into those nets, because we’re told that the nets were so heavy they started tearing. Peter looked at the nets filled with fish, and then at Jesus—and this is my favorite part—he fell to his knees in front of Jesus and begged Jesus to leave. Peter told Jesus that he was too much of a sinner to be around Him. Peter was awestruck. He knew he was standing (now kneeling!) in front of a man who could control nature. It was too much for him. What Peter said was, “I am too sinful to be around you.” What he meant was, “You scare me to death!” How do I know this? Jesus’ answer tells me. If sin was Peter’s problem, Jesus would have said, “Peter, your sins are forgiven.” After all, He did that in other situations. What He said, though, was, “Don’t be afraid.” Don’t be afraid. How many times have you been afraid to follow Jesus, or afraid OF Jesus? If we’ve never been afraid of the holiness and perfection of Jesus, we haven’t truly considered who Jesus is. Peter’s fear was not a stumbling block from Jesus’ standpoint. He told Peter not to be afraid and then said, “From now on you’ll be fishing for people.” And that’s exactly what Peter did. He left his nets—fuller than they’d ever been in his life—and followed Jesus!
Heavenly Father, I pray for the courage to follow Jesus’ voice FIRST in my life. Don’t let fear, or sin or any other obstacle stand in the way of my giving Jesus full reign in my life. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I may fish for people, too, that I may stand up and be counted for You in every area of my life. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Recent Comments