Luke 5:1-11
"On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, [2] and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. [3] Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. [4] And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.' [5] And Simon answered, 'Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.' [6] And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. [7] They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. [8] But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.' [9] For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, [10] and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.' [11] And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him."
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At many times in my life, and surely at some points in every believer's life, on is terribly unsure as to whether or not to go into a ministry, and witness to their friends and enemies. I would end up trying to save people with my own ideas, with my own way of doing things. Well, we know what happens when we do it that way. "Master, we toiled all night, and caught NOTHING"(emphasis added). That is often what seems to happen to a ministry that depends upon the skills and talents of the ministers, rather than the power and wit of the one who sent them. But then, what happened when Jesus showed up? "and their nets were breaking. [7] They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink." Jesus gave us his Holy Spirit to be with us. When he shows up, our work changes from absolutely nothing into being so profitable, that we can not even contain all of the good that comes from it.
Another thing that we as Christians often think about when reluctant to do Ministry is because of the fact that we aren't qualified to even be doing it. Who are we to be out there saving people, and preaching the gospel? I'm barely in! I'm not one of those crazy, super-anointed Christians like Billy Graham, or James MacDonald, or even my Youth Pastor! For what reason would God choose a person like me to do his work?
Peter was thinking the exact same thing. "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." He realized the same thing the we do; we are not and cannot possibly be the kind of messengers and laborers that God has called us to be. But then what does Jesus say back to him?
"Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."
........That's awesome. It's almost like he's saying, "Hey, you guys, don't worry. You like the fish? Well you're gonna be catching men now--just like that!" After reading this passage, I was so encouraged to actually start doing something. Because, Peter here really isn't all that special. It's in the book of Acts, when the Holy Spirit comes--that was when he had some ministry going. So it's not that Peter was awesome--he wasn't awesome at all. Just like me. Jesus, now HE is where the power comes from. And since we have the Holy Spirit now, and Jesus tells to do ministry(see our mission on the left), then we really have no excuse to not do ministry, since it isn't really our ministry--it belongs to Jesus.
So don't be afraid to do something for God. Because whatever you are thinking of doing, God most likely has even bigger plans for you than that.
"[11] And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him."
"On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, [2] and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. [3] Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. [4] And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.' [5] And Simon answered, 'Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.' [6] And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. [7] They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. [8] But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.' [9] For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, [10] and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.' [11] And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
At many times in my life, and surely at some points in every believer's life, on is terribly unsure as to whether or not to go into a ministry, and witness to their friends and enemies. I would end up trying to save people with my own ideas, with my own way of doing things. Well, we know what happens when we do it that way. "Master, we toiled all night, and caught NOTHING"(emphasis added). That is often what seems to happen to a ministry that depends upon the skills and talents of the ministers, rather than the power and wit of the one who sent them. But then, what happened when Jesus showed up? "and their nets were breaking. [7] They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink." Jesus gave us his Holy Spirit to be with us. When he shows up, our work changes from absolutely nothing into being so profitable, that we can not even contain all of the good that comes from it.
Another thing that we as Christians often think about when reluctant to do Ministry is because of the fact that we aren't qualified to even be doing it. Who are we to be out there saving people, and preaching the gospel? I'm barely in! I'm not one of those crazy, super-anointed Christians like Billy Graham, or James MacDonald, or even my Youth Pastor! For what reason would God choose a person like me to do his work?
Peter was thinking the exact same thing. "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." He realized the same thing the we do; we are not and cannot possibly be the kind of messengers and laborers that God has called us to be. But then what does Jesus say back to him?
"Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."
........That's awesome. It's almost like he's saying, "Hey, you guys, don't worry. You like the fish? Well you're gonna be catching men now--just like that!" After reading this passage, I was so encouraged to actually start doing something. Because, Peter here really isn't all that special. It's in the book of Acts, when the Holy Spirit comes--that was when he had some ministry going. So it's not that Peter was awesome--he wasn't awesome at all. Just like me. Jesus, now HE is where the power comes from. And since we have the Holy Spirit now, and Jesus tells to do ministry(see our mission on the left), then we really have no excuse to not do ministry, since it isn't really our ministry--it belongs to Jesus.
So don't be afraid to do something for God. Because whatever you are thinking of doing, God most likely has even bigger plans for you than that.
"[11] And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him."
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