No matter how hard I work by my own strength, it accomplishes nothing. But relying on the Lord’s promised Word, I choose to obey in faith.

“After Jesus had finished speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’  Simon answered, ‘Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But because You say so, I will let down the nets.’  When they had done this, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break” (Luke 5:4–6).

As I meditate on this passage, I ask the Lord to teach me the lesson He desires to give.

(1)   Jesus’ Command and Simon’s Response: Jesus was teaching by the Lake of Gennesaret—also known as the Sea of Tiberias (Jn. 21:1).  He stepped into Simon Peter’s boat and taught the crowds the Word of God.  After He finished teaching, He turned to Simon and commanded, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch” (Lk. 5:4).  Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing; but at Your word I will let down the nets” (v.5).

(a)    A Striking Connection to John 21: When I meditate on this scene, I’m reminded that the “Lake of Gennesaret” is the same body of water John 21 calls the “Sea of Tiberias.”  In John 21, after the resurrection—after Jesus had appeared to the disciples twice—they were confused and discouraged.  They had returned to their old life of fishing.  Peter especially was weighed down with the deep sorrow of having denied Jesus three times.

(i)               What is striking is the similarity between the two passages: In Luke 5:5, Peter says, “We worked all night and caught nothing.”  In John 21:3, Scripture again says, “That night they caught nothing.”

·        The lesson I receive from this: No matter how hard I labor in my own strength, it is of no use. I must humbly acknowledge this before the Lord and confess it openly. Only then can I rely on Him.

-        Recently I preached a message titled “Imprisonment Is an Opportunity,” from Exodus 14:3–4.  The first lesson was this: being trapped is an opportunity to realize my helplessness and weakness.  And this morning again, through Luke 5 and John 21, God confirms the same message.  My heart is full of gratitude.

n  For the past two days I have been struggling with a brief recurrence of panic-attack symptoms.  Yet the Lord reminded me of the message to give thanks even for such moments.  By His grace He helped me receive this trial with thanksgiving.  He brought to mind the song “You Are My Strength When I Am Weak,” and once again led me to 2 Corinthians 12:9–10: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness … when I am weak, then I am strong.”

-        During this time, the Lord also stirred within me a fresh longing for the power of the Holy Spirit—especially the power of the Word, which I encouraged our congregation to seek during the New Year’s service from Acts 1:8.

n  Early this morning, I prayed Romans 8:26–27 and 34 by applying it personally: “In the same way the Spirit helps James in his weakness.  James does not know what to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for James with groanings too deep for words …  Christ Jesus, who died and was raised to life, is at the right hand of God interceding for James.”

(b)   Peter Acted on the Word—Not on His Understanding: As I continued to meditate, I was drawn to Peter’s statement: “But because You say so (at Your word), I will let down the nets.”

(i)               If Peter had relied on his own expertise as a fisherman—his skill, experience, or reasoning—he would never have obeyed Jesus.  His own understanding would have led him to reject what seemed unreasonable.

·        This reminds me of Proverbs 3:5–6: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”  The greatest obstacle to God’s guidance is my own understanding.  Even if the path I choose seems good in my own eyes, eventually I will face the consequences of choosing out of unbelief rather than trust.

-        When we depend on our own understanding, we cannot obey God’s commands—because His instructions often surpass human logic.

n  Consider Elijah in 1 Kings 17: How could God tell him to drink from a brook during years of drought when a brook would naturally dry up?

n  How could God send him to a starving widow in Zarephath—a woman preparing her last meal before death—rather than to a wealthy believer who could support him?

n  And how could Elijah ask that widow to feed him first with the last bit of food she intended for herself and her son?

n  To human understanding, none of this makes sense.  Yet Elijah obeyed God (vv. .5, 10), and the widow obeyed the man of God (vv. .15, 18, 24).  How?  Because they trusted God with all their hearts and believed His promises (vv. 4, 9, 14).  Elijah even obeyed without receiving any promise that the brook would not dry up.  The only word he held onto was God’s promise: “I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”  And he obeyed—and witnessed God’s miraculous provision (vv. 6, 16).

(ii)             Obedience to God’s Word Leads to Abundance: Peter, relying on Jesus’ word, obeyed. And Scripture says, “When they had done so,” they caught such a huge number of fish that their nets began to break.

·        The same happened in John 21.  Though the disciples had caught nothing all night, when Jesus said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat,” they obeyed—and the catch was so large they could hardly haul it in.

-        Is it not amazing how similar these two passages are?

n  And the lesson is this: When we obey the Lord’s word—despite our own insufficiency, weakness, or lack of understanding—He fills our nets.

n  My Personal Application: Each morning I meditate on the Word—especially on John 6, where Jesus declares Himself the Bread of Life.  After meditating, I pray: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, Lord.”  Then I offer my meditation to God and share it in faith through various platforms—KakaoTalk groups, the Victory Presbyterian Church website, my Naver blog, Facebook (both my personal group and the church page), KakaoStory, Google Blog, and email.  As I do this, I believe the Lord will work the miracle of the five loaves and two fish—feeding multitudes and producing abundant spiritual fruit.