My last post was about step 1 to success found in this story, being the right place for the right purpose. So let's take a look at the next step. The story from Luke 5:1-7 is below if you would like to read it again as well.
On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in around Jesus to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. There Jesus saw two boats but the fisherman had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, Jesus asked him to put out a little from the land. And then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. Simon replied, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." And Simon had done this, they caught a large number of fish, so many that their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so full that they began to sink.
So what is the second step to success we see in this story? When Simon was asked by Jesus to do something, he was OBEDIENT. Jesus asked Simon to pull his boat out into the deeper water and let down his nets. Simon had to be wondering why he needed to do that since he had just fished all night and caught nothing, and fish typically moved to deep waters the nets couldn't reach during the hot day. This was not the right time nor the right conditions to catch fish, but Simon went against his thoughts and obeyed Jesus anyway.
For us personally, how can obedience play out in our daily lives? Have you ever been asked to do something at work or school, or by a parent or coach that didn't seem to make sense? We need to listen to our bosses, our parents, our mentors, and others with influence in our lives. But we must be careful that whoever we are listening to is a worthy "Master" and not just a peer or someone we see on TV or social media. To be obedient, we have to listen to others, you can't be obedient to yourself. Proverbs 12:15 tell us, "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice."
As the church, how are we obedient? Better question for most churches, are we being obedient to man or to God when making church decisions? Is there a program, or outreach, the church has tried before that didn't really take off as anticipated? Or has the church looked at hiring additional staff or expanding roles of others to have those desires squashed? Is it possible that we took a "not now" from God as a "no"? Simon didn't catch on his first attempt, not even in a whole night of working. But when he got out of his own way, and did what Jesus asked him to do, no matter how crazy it seemed, he caught fish. Maybe we should focus more on being obedient to Christ, than on the program and we'll see success as well.
So here we've looked at the role OBEDIENCE plays in success. There's one more step to success we can see in this story, what will it be?
On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in around Jesus to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. There Jesus saw two boats but the fisherman had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, Jesus asked him to put out a little from the land. And then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. Simon replied, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." And Simon had done this, they caught a large number of fish, so many that their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so full that they began to sink.
So what is the second step to success we see in this story? When Simon was asked by Jesus to do something, he was OBEDIENT. Jesus asked Simon to pull his boat out into the deeper water and let down his nets. Simon had to be wondering why he needed to do that since he had just fished all night and caught nothing, and fish typically moved to deep waters the nets couldn't reach during the hot day. This was not the right time nor the right conditions to catch fish, but Simon went against his thoughts and obeyed Jesus anyway.
For us personally, how can obedience play out in our daily lives? Have you ever been asked to do something at work or school, or by a parent or coach that didn't seem to make sense? We need to listen to our bosses, our parents, our mentors, and others with influence in our lives. But we must be careful that whoever we are listening to is a worthy "Master" and not just a peer or someone we see on TV or social media. To be obedient, we have to listen to others, you can't be obedient to yourself. Proverbs 12:15 tell us, "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice."
As the church, how are we obedient? Better question for most churches, are we being obedient to man or to God when making church decisions? Is there a program, or outreach, the church has tried before that didn't really take off as anticipated? Or has the church looked at hiring additional staff or expanding roles of others to have those desires squashed? Is it possible that we took a "not now" from God as a "no"? Simon didn't catch on his first attempt, not even in a whole night of working. But when he got out of his own way, and did what Jesus asked him to do, no matter how crazy it seemed, he caught fish. Maybe we should focus more on being obedient to Christ, than on the program and we'll see success as well.
So here we've looked at the role OBEDIENCE plays in success. There's one more step to success we can see in this story, what will it be?
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