Obedience to God!!

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 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. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 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.”  When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.  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.

                                                                                                                                Luke 5:1-7

 Simon was an experienced fisherman. His livelihood was fishing. He knew when to throw the net, where to throw the net and how to throw the net. He very well knew the tides of the sea and the directions of the wind. Yet all his knowledge had failed him on that particular day. He was having a very depressing time. He was under pressure. No fish mean no food for him and his family. We read that both the boats that were on the shore were empty and they were washing their nets. No catch at all for any of them. Imagine their mindset in such a situation!!

Jesus walks up to them and asks them to push it back again into the water a little bit so that he could preach to the hundreds following him. Simon did as asked to. He even listened to Jesus teach. The teaching must have stirred Simon's soul a bit. After teaching the people, the bible says, Jesus asks Simon to take the boat to deep waters and let down the net for a catch. Any fisherman would know that fishing has to done during the night because the surface waters are cooler in the night and only then the fishes come up and during the day time when the sun heats the surface water the fishes prefer to stay at the cool bottom. 

Simon knows that Jesus was a different person because the sermon he preached sitting on the boat had already stirred up Simon's soul. Therefore instead of arguing with Jesus, he throws down his nets. To his amazement he finds a large number of fish in his net. The nets couldn't hold it all, they were breaking. Simon then calls to his other fellowmen to come for help and they bring another boat to take back the fish. 

What is amazing is that both the boats began to sink under the weight of the caught fish!! What no knowledge or skills or know-hows could do, obedience to God did it!! 

We may be like Simon well versed in our field, knowing all but still we would be in a failing state, depressing state. What Jesus said to Simon was against all his knowledge but even then he obeys God! God's word is the most powerful thing. It created! And still can! Even if there hadn't been any fish all night through, in the morning when Jesus had asked Simon to throw down his nets, the fish would have come to be from nowhere!! That's the power of the Word!!

There maybe nothing in our lives! We may seem to be utter failure!! But when God speaks into our live all things come to exist! You will be blessed with the blessing that you cannot contain! You will be sinking in your blessing!! Your blessing will overflow to others and even they will not be able to contain it!!

Obey God!! Listen to His still small voice and be blessed abundantly!!

Amen! Hallelujah!!

Be like Jesus!!

Gary Thomas, in his book Authentic Faith, describes a friend of his named Mike. He met Mike when he went to college. Mike was a leader among students. He had everything: a contagious personality, athletic ability, good looks, and natural appeal. And everybody wanted to be around Mike. Everybody wanted to be Mike.

But a few years after college, Mike suffered a brain hemorrhage, and, as a result, he lost everything: his handsome appearance was gone, his voice was slurred, he couldn’t teach any more. Everything that others admired in Mike was now taken from him.

His treatment required months of grueling therapy, but eventually he was able to function again. The devastating effect on his body was paralleled by an equally powerful change in his spirit. He still attracted followers, but he was no longer focused on himself. He was focused on God. Gary Thomas says, "In college, when I was around Mike, I wanted to be like Mike. Now, after spending time with Mike, I want to be more like Jesus."

Restoration!!

A few years ago, an angry man rushed through the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam until he reached Rembrandt's famous painting "Nightwatch." Then he took out a knife and slashed it repeatedly before he could be stopped. A short time later, a distraught, hostile man slipped into St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome with a hammer and began to smash Michelangelo's beautiful sculpture The Pieta. Two cherished works of art

were severely damaged. But what did officials do? Throw them out and forget about them? Absolutely not! Using the best experts, who worked with the utmost care and precision, they made every effort to restore the treasures.

J. Stuart Holden tells of an old Scottish mansion close to where he had his little summer home. The walls of one room were filled with sketches made by distinguished artists. The practice began after a pitcher of soda water was accidentally spilled on a freshly decorated wall and left an unsightly stain. At the time, a noted artist, Lord Landseer, was a guest in the house. One day when the family went out to the moors, he stayed behind. With a few masterful strokes of a piece of charcoal, that ugly spot became the outline of a beautiful waterfall, bordered by trees and wildlife. He turned that disfigured wall into one of his most successful depictions of Highland life. 

 By His sovereign grace, God can bring good out of our failures, and even out of our sins. So do not be dejected, commit yourself unto the Lord and see the miracle happen!!

Amen! Hallelujah!!

Shared  by 

Carolyn Thomas

Yeshoowa ministries.