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Luke 5 English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

¹ 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.

REFLECTION:

1. After a whole night’s labour, the fishermen didn’t want to listen to Jesus to try again. They were depressed and exhausted. How similar this is to our own lives.  We all have experienced failure which often left us feeling guilty, shameful and self-distrust.   Then, we wanted to quit, withdraw and to be away from people.
2. Jesus won’t ask us to do something entirely new. He’d send us back to what we’ve been doing all along, but this time with Jesus. God wants to be in command of our lives – our work lives, our family lives, our leisure lives.  It’s the same boat, same commands and same nets.  But now Jesus is with us – and that makes all the difference.
3. Is Jesus on your LIFE boat? Who’s in command of your journey?  What are you experiencing right now?  Be quiet before God and allow the Holy Spirit speak to your heart.  Respond and speak to God as you are touched by the Holy Spirit.

PRAYER:

Dear Lord Jesus, May You steer the boat of my life every moment, lest I get lost or even fall into a dangerous whirlpool. I too, like Peter and the others, depended on myself and labored, but got nothing. Now I know very well that all the pursuits of the world, although they can temporarily satisfy my desires, will eventually bring only a greater void in my heart. Lord Jesus, in this small boat of life, may I submit to You every moment, and not rob You of the sovereignty of the helm, lest I think I am smart and capsize the boat. Lord, I am willing to obey Your call to sail the boat to the depths of the water, so that I can experience Your power, receive more spiritual blessing, and lead more people to come to You. Amen!

HYMN:

Be the Centre – youtu.be/pw6rIwmkV6E