| So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed Jesus. |
| —Luke 5:11 |
Have you ever gone fishing? Maybe you are currently an ardent fisherman or fisherwoman. Or, maybe you remember going fishing when you were a child. Perhaps your dad or grandpa or one of your uncles, or maybe even your mom and her sisters, your aunts, took you fishing. Fishing can be a really interesting experience.
Sometimes you set your alarm clock so you can get up really early in the morning. Maybe it is still dark outside. You load the car with all the fishing poles and fishing tackle. Maybe you have that special bait box filled with a little bit of dirt and those wonderfully juicy earthworms that the fish like so well. Then you drive off to the place where you will spend your day fishing.
Maybe you get into a boat and row out into the middle of a lake. Or, maybe you just stand along the shore of a lake, or a stream, or a river. You take one of those juicy worms and very carefully put it on your hook. Then you cast your line out into the water and hope for that exciting tug on your line that lets you know a fish has taken the bait.
In Jesus’ time, the fishermen often used large nets. They would row out in their boats onto the Sea of Galilee—also known as the Lake of Gennesaret—and cast their nets over the side. The fish would swim in and fill the nets. The fishermen would hoist the nets into their boats. Then, they would row for shore.
In the passage of Scripture recorded in Luke 5:1-11, we find this account:
1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people 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 catch men.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
The Apostle Luke records an occasion when the fishermen had been fishing all night, but hadn’t caught any fish. Jesus had been standing on the shore speaking to a crowd of people. As the people pressed in around Him, Jesus asked if the fishermen would give him a ride out a ways from shore so He could continue speaking to the people. The fishermen complied.
Once He finished speaking, Jesus made an amazing request of them. He asked the fishermen to row out into deep water and lower their nets to catch fish. This request was all the more amazing because it came from a carpenter. Jesus, you may remember, had grown up learning how to be a carpenter from his father. So, here was a carpenter telling the fishermen how to catch fish.
On the face of it, Jesus’ request was absurd. Every fisherman on the Sea of Galilee knew that you did not catch fish in deep water. And, every fisherman on the Sea of Galilee knew that you did not catch fish in the middle of the day. To catch fish, you had to begin fishing while it was still dark, just before dawn, and you had to fish in relatively shallow water. But, here is Jesus telling the fishermen to sail out to deep water in the middle of the day, let down their nets, and prepare to catch fish.
Do you know how those fishermen responded to Jesus’ suggestion? Very wisely, they did exactly what He told them to do. And, do you know what happened? They caught the biggest catch of fish any of them had ever seen. You see, they set their first priority. When we do what Jesus tells us to do, amazing things will happen. That is a lesson worth learning.
