Tag Archives: peter cast his nets on the other side

January 3, 2023 · 5:41 AM

Overwhelming Results

Have you ever walked into a restaurant just before they close? You know they’ve been working their whole shift and are looking forward to going home, but you’re hungry and they’re open. I’ve had them tell me the kitchen was closed and turn me away. I’ve also had those who reluctantly let me in. I feel bad, but I’m only there because I’ve had a long day too and I’m hungry. On nights like this I make sure I tip exceptionally well, especially if I’m the on,y one in the restaurant. Sometimes I tip more than the meal and even 3 figures depending on the situation. I want the server to know that I appreciate their effort even when they were tired and ready to go home.

In Luke 5, Jesus was teaching by the Sea of Galilee. So many people were showing up to hear Him that they had Him backed up to the water. Jesus saw Peter and some other fishermen cleaning their nets after a long night of working. He asked Peter if he could use his boat to preach from. When He was finished teaching, He asked Peter to take Him out to deeper water. There He asked Peter to put his nets in the water to fish. Peter explained it was the end of his shift, the nets were nearly cleaned and he was ready to go home, but then he said he would do it at Jesus’ word. The net was filled with so many fish that he needed help to pull it in and store them. The Bible says that both boats were so full of fish that they began to sink.

Jesus didn’t ask Peter to do anything different than he had already been doing, yet the results were different this time. The difference was that this time it was out of obedience and not routine. One yielded overwhelming results and the other resulted in nothing. Jesus has called us to a life of obedience, not routine. At times, we can get caught up in the motions of Christianity, but our heart isn’t in it. When God asks us to do something that seems like routine Christianity, we can either push back telling Him we’ve done that with no results, or we can obey. God is calling you to deeper water. What will you answer? Don’t let your past results keep you from the blessings of obedience.

Photo by Lance Anderson on Unsplash

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March 9, 2017 · 5:37 AM

Immediate Obedience 


One of the things my wife and I decided after we had a kid was that we weren’t going to use the Three Count Rule. We wanted our son to obey the first time we said something, and not for him to think he had until the count of three to obey. Our reasoning was that if a car was coming and he was running towards the road, we wanted him to obey immediately. Kids are often distracted and unaware of their surroundings. As parents, we are constantly looking out for his safety and need him to obey without understanding why.

You and I are not so different as God’s children. We get distracted by the things of this world and our lives. We have a Heavenly Father who watches out for us and asks for our obedience without our understanding why. Instead of obeying, we often argue or don’t do what He asks because we don’t understand the why behind it or because it just doesn’t make sense. We could all learn a lesson from Peter who obeyed without understanding.

In Luke 5, Jesus was teaching near the Sea of Galilee. The crowds kept pressing in until he had no more room to stand. Peter and his fishing buddies were there mending and cleaning their nets from an all night fishing trip. Jesus asked to get in the boat and to then have him push off land a bit so He could teach the crowd. After He taught them, Jesus asked Peter to go out a little further and then cast His nets. It didn’t make sense to Him because the prime fishing time had already passed plus he had already cleaned his nets. He was tired and wanted to go home.

In verse 5, Peter said, “Master, we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again” (NLT). He didn’t argue even though he didn’t understand. He simply obeyed. The result of his obedience was the catch of a lifetime. That trust he had in obeying Jesus, no matter what, also led him to be able to walk on water. He understood that God knows better than we do. He sees things we can’t see. We may not understand the why behind what He’s asking, but we still need to obey or we will miss out on some of His greatest blessings. 

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