Luke 5:5

New International Version

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.”

For Meditation

Is that not our Christian credo—how we have to live with Jesus?

“Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets” (Luke 5:5). Emphasis mine.

There was no argument or objection. The Master had said it, and He was worthy of obedience. 

Everything stood against what Jesus told Peter to do. An experienced fisherman with a thorough knowledge of the lake, Peter knew it was a worthless adventure. However, the command of the Lord is not ordinary. It is life and carries authority.

Peter knew the person who spoke to him on that day. He had met Jesus through the invitation of Andrew, his brother (John 1:35-42). Jesus had given him a new name that spoke into his future. So Peter called Him Master on the shores of Lake Gennesaret, as he immediately put himself in the position of a servant—that of servitude and obedience. Do we see ourselves that way?

Peter obeyed the Lord (Luke 5:5), and the catch was as extraordinary (6).

 “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (8).

No one stands in the presence of God without seeing their inner self—sinful, completely depraved, and unworthy of Him. Nobody sees the glory of God without a transformative experience. Moses was never the same after the burning bush experience (Exodus 3:2-6). Neither was Isaiah in the year King Uzziah died (Isaiah 6:5). How, then, could Peter remain the same after seeing the glory of the Lord in the miraculous catch (10-11)? 

Has your meeting with Christ radically changed your life as it did with these men and all the uncountable others? 

You may have met Jesus on the shores of your disappointment, and God revealed His glory to you in a peculiar way. You bowed your knees in submission to Him as your Lord. That is your Lake Gennesaret experience when you confessed your sins to Him (Luke 5:8).
So, stop thinking you will be a better Christian if only you saw God as Moses or Isaiah did. Stop seeking after miracles as if your Christian growth and maturity depend on them. The greatest miracle on earth is the salvation you have experienced as a child of God. Hold yourself up in Christ and go in the power of the Holy Spirit to live for the glory of the Father.

What Jesus tells us to do sometimes is simply believable. But we still have to obey, as Peter did. Simple faith does it, my friend!

Our response to Him must simply be, “Lord, I am struggling, but at your word, I will do it.” Then, take the step of faith and do what He tells you to do. His glory is waiting to be revealed in your response.