THE QUEST FOR GOD (Part 11).
Luke 5. Verses 1 – 10. Verses 4 – 6 read:
Now, when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
Early in this series, we said that the mysteries of God are encountered in the realm of God, which realm we described as the deep or the great waters. In today’s account, Peter had gone all night fishing without a catch. He and his team had resigned to washing their nets, which was a sign of the closure of the fishing activities of the day. Sometimes, the efforts we put into life do not produce the desired results. At this point, men come to their utter helplessness and give up.
It was at such a point that Jesus came in to request the repositioning and use of Peter’s boat to deliver a sermon to the multitude, to which Peter obliged. For the period of the sermon, Peter surrendered his boat as a symbol of his life to Jesus for his exclusive use. In like manner, every life must be surrendered to the Lordship of Christ. Such lives receive a touch of God’s transformation and blessing.
After the sermon, Jesus commanded Peter to take over the transformed and blessed boat to launch out into the deep for a catch. As in Peter’s case, God is in the business of calling surrendered men into the spectacular experiences of the deep. Peter’s fruitless experience of the past night was fresh on his mind. However, he said that at the Master’s command, he would obey. Obedience is the hallmark of a surrendered, transformed, and blessed life, and it is a key ingredient in our quest for God.
The moment Peter and his colleagues launched into the deep and dropped their net into the sea as directed by Christ, they had a net breaking catch. The miracle was not actually in the massive catch, but in the fact that when we move into the realm of God, that is, the deep or the great waters, we see God’s great works which beat the imagination of men. It is God’s desire that believers will operate in the realm of God’s greatness. God’s invitation to the deep is out to all men, but the experience of the deep remains the portion of those who surrender their boats or lives to God and obey his commands. Surrender and obedience play a vital role in the quest for God.
SHALOM 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏