When He had stopped
speaking, He said to Simon,
“Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
Luke 5:4
When
Christ teaches you something about Himself, He implements it into your life
through experience. As the crowds gathered around, Jesus chose to board Peter's
boat and teach the people from there. All day long Peter sat in the boat
listening to Jesus teach the multitudes. At the close of His discourse, Jesus
allowed Peter to experience the reality of what He had just been teaching the
crowd. The crowd had heard the truth, but Peter was to experience
it.
Jesus put
His teaching into language a fisherman could understand. He told Peter to put
out his nets into the deep water. Peter hesitated, “Master, we have toiled all
night and caught nothing.” Peter had been fishing all night, had washed and
repaired his nets in the morning, and then listened to Jesus teach. He was
tired. He probably was not expecting a dramatic encounter with God at a time
like that. Yet, as Peter obeyed Jesus, he pulled in such a miraculous catch of
fish that his boat almost sank! Peter was filled with amazement and recognized
that he had just experienced the power of God (Luke 5:4-11).
Peter
learned that with a command from Jesus, he could do anything. Thus, Jesus was
able to reorder Peter's priorities from catching fish to catching men (Luke 4:10). Peter's obedience led to a dramatic new insight into the person of
Jesus. This was an invitation to walk with Jesus in an even more intimate and
powerful way.
God does
not want you to merely gain intellectual knowledge of truth. He wants you to experience
His truth. There are things about Jesus you will learn only as you obey Him.
Your obedience will then lead to greater revelation and opportunities for
service.
- Excerpt from “Experiencing God Day-By-Day” by Henry and
Richard Blackaby