Going Fishin'

Do you like to fish? I only enjoy it when there’s actually a fish at the end of my line. I get bored fast if there’s no reaction to my bait. If I catch a fish then I have the inconvenience of cleaning it. There’s a story in the book of Luke about fishing.

When he (Jesus) had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down^[b] the nets for a catch.

"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."

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

Luke 5:4-6

These fishermen, who would become some of Jesus’ disciples, were out fishing all night and had just cleaned their nets, a task that probably took a long time. It was not convenient to go out again. But the men obeyed. If they had not obeyed then they probably would not have been chosen by Jesus to be His disciples. That one act of obedience propelled them into a life far beyond their expectations. I wonder how many other fishermen denied the request of Jesus.

There are two keys words that come to mind after reading this passage:

(1) obedience and (2) convenience

God has called each of us to a life of obedience. I want to narrow that down to a life of obedience in leading out in worship. You have been called. You can’t escape it. In the movie, Evan Almighty, we see that Evan could not escape the call to build an ark and save the animals no matter how hard he tried. It literally followed him.

Obedience is never convenient. It’s not convenient to attend rehearsals. It’s not convenient to come early to church. It’s not convenient to drag your kids and your instrument to church. It’s not convenient to park in a far parking place so a visitor can have that spot.

Your acts of obedience, inconvenient as it may be, will propel you into a life far beyond your expectations. .