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Bulletin articles
Try Jesus’ Way!
“Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ Simon answered and said, ‘Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.’ When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, ‘Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.’ When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.” (Luke 5:1-11 NASB)
Have you ever looked at your life and felt that there was something lacking? Perhaps you feel that you are just not measuring up to the Lord’s standard in your spiritual life or that your family is not everything that it could be. Maybe you are dissatisfied with your service in the kingdom or struggling in your evangelistic efforts. I suppose that we all share those thoughts from time to time, but this story from the fifth chapter of Luke presents a solution to overcome those feelings of failure and disappointment.
Try Jesus’ Way.
Simon was a professional fisherman who made his living on the Lake of Gennesaret, but he had been out all night (apparently the prime time for catching fish there) without the slightest success. There can be little doubt that he was tired, frustrated, and ready to retire home for some needed rest before returning for the next night’s work. Then along came Jesus, a carpenter’s son from the inland city of Nazareth, and He was going to tell Simon how to fish? Certainly Simon had some reservations about Jesus’ request to go fishing in the middle of the day, but notice his response: “I will do as You say and let down the nets” — “nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net” (NKJV, emp. added). Simon was willing to try Jesus’ way, even when it made no sense to him. In the same way we need to be willing to try the Lord’s will for every aspect of our lives, regardless of what our own hesitancies or reservations might be.
Stand in Awe at the Results.
Simon did not expect the results he experienced. Had he anticipated such a catch of fish, he would have used stronger nets and bigger boats. But Simon did not dismiss what he saw as some kind of odd natural phenomenon or lucky happenstance. Instead he fell down at the feet of Jesus in complete awe of His power. Everyone else present marveled as well. Likewise, when we see the will of the Lord doing great things in our lives, we must give credit where credit is due and stand in awe of the Lord’s power. Never fail to praise God for the blessings which come from doing His will. In so doing we will “shine before men in such a way that they may see [our] good works, and glorify [our] Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16) — the Lord gets the glory!
Become a Follower.
After witnessing the Lord’s great power, Simon knew that he was in the presence of a special Man. So when Jesus asked Simon to follow Him and serve His cause, Simon did not hesitate. He and his companions gladly forsook all that they knew to follow the Lord. When we see the great things that the Lord’s will accomplishes in our lives, we too must be willing to give up our own ways and become disciples of Jesus Christ. When Jesus’ way works (and it always does), we need to wholeheartedly and enthusiastically devote ourselves to that way.
- 20220731_Try_Jesus_Way_Jeremy_Paschall.pdf (320.50 kB)
