Luke 5:1-5

“Because you say so, I will do as you say… I will go out to deeper water and I will let down the nets.”

Can you believe it—the beginning of a new year is here! The opportunity to leap forward and to start fresh is once again at our fingertips. What will you choose? Will you accept a new beginning? A challenge to do the unlikely…to let God do the impossible? To experience freedom? Let me challenge you to not settle for less or to falsely believe you’re unable to change your circumstances—you can! You can actually take charge and move forward in the grand scheme of things, by exercising your faith (Hebrews 5:14; 2 Peter 3:18)! When I think about faith and how each of us grows and matures in our faith it constantly stirs me to rethink how I act toward the Lord when He asks me to do something for him. Usually his request requires obedience which, ultimately, grows our faith. How about you? You get prompted by the Holy Spirit to go and pray with someone, but you don’t have the time; or you’re walking down the street and see a homeless person and you change direction so you don’t have to engage; or one of your workplace colleagues just received sad news about a family member’s health and instead of going to console them you continue to sit and do your work, as though oblivious to your surroundings. Or, maybe it’s reading the Word or making time to spend with Him. The list of missed opportunities goes on and on, and yet, the call of the Holy Spirit to obey and respond still comes…are we being sensitive to that call? Obedience is not an easy command to follow. This leads me to a story about Peter and his encounter with Jesus (Luke 5:1-5; 6-11). As Luke tells the story, we aren’t even sure how much Simon Peter knew about Jesus at this time. Here’s a brief backdrop to this story: The night before, we find Peter fishing all night long without catching a single fish. Fishing, back in Jesus’ day, wasn’t like it is today. Peter would have been pulling and dragging nets around a small, uncomfortable boat. With an unproductive night, Peter is now on the shore wanting to get his nets clean so he can go home and get a little rest before going back out on the water that same night to do it all over again. But as Peter is cleaning his nets, Jesus shows up on the scene with a crowd of people. All of the sudden, Peter’s boat becomes the Messiah’s stage for Jesus to preach about the coming of the kingdom of God. Suddenly, plans changed and Peter finds himself right in the middle of having to make an on-the-spot decision. This Rabbi, who Peter most generously allowed for him to preach from his boat, is now asking him to go back out and cast his clean nets out into the deep waters. Clean nets! Peter is tired, hungry, and discouraged. He just spent a good portion of time cleaning his nets and now Jesus is telling him to GO BACK OUT and do it again! This seems like a ridiculous request! Scripture tells us Peter told Jesus how they had been out all night fishing and they had caught nothing. Then Peter says, “Master … Because you say so, I will do as you say… I will go out to deeper water and I will let down the nets.” WOW! Peter obeyed. This was the first step of Peter’s obedience and a miracle awaited. If you know the ending to the story, you might be inclined to say, “I would have obeyed, raised the sails, and headed out into the deep, just like Jesus asked, without hesitation!” But would’ve you? Have you done so before, when He has called you to step up in your faith and obey Him? How many times have you refused in the past year, 2016? Obedience looks different when God is asking you to do something that personally costs you more than you think you can afford. Maybe it’s your precious time, or a brief word of encouragement, or a bit of change to a needy traveler, or just maybe, it’s Jesus wanting to send you a miracle and he’s asking you to do the impossible. All you have to do is obey! There are no coincidences with God. Nothing “just” happens. Jesus always has a plan and His plan always reflects a bigger picture of His great love for you and others! The ending of the story is even more astounding. We read, “Amazement had seized him (Peter) and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken” (v. 9). Not only was Peter at the center of this miracle, but others became a part of this incredible outpouring as a result of one man’s faith and obedience. This year, 2017, can be a new year filled will Godly awe. Can you afford NOT to listen and obey the Master? Two things I have learned in my short life:

-If you want to have faith, or even to grow in your faith, then you’ll need to learn how to be obedient when the Master calls you to action.

-If Jesus asks you to do something, you can know without a doubt that a blessing will follow. Questioning, doubting, calculating—none of these build the faith that He wants you to have. This does not mean that you will never show disobedience when he calls you to service. It means that the motivation of your heart, to the best of your ability, will be set on obeying God. Have you ever invited Jesus to get into your “boat”? Or, shall I say, your life? For Peter, this is exactly what happened on that day. It was a day for Peter to invite Jesus into his life by first taking a small step of obedience at the request of the Messiah. Make this 2017, a year to grow your faith through obedience in Him. Remember, it’s about your faith under construction!