“One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding Him and listening to the word of God, He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fisherman, who were washing their nets.  He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the shore.  Then He sat down and taught the people from the boat.

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and let down 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.  So they signaled 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.”  Luke 5:1-7

This wasn’t the first time Jesus had called Peter to His side.  In fact, He had already met, spoke and dined with him.  It is a wonderful thing that God doesn’t give up on His plans for us…

Simon Peter and his partners had been up all night fishing.  They had pulled their boats back onto shore and were washing out their nets as Jesus began to teach a small crowd of people who had followed Him.  His classroom was the shoreline not too far from where the guys had docked their fishing vessels.  After a long night of pulling in nets only to find them empty, they must have been looking forward to going home to eat and catch some shut eye.

In the midst of His lesson, as they continued to wash their nets, Jesus asked Peter to put his boat back out in water.  Giving this a little more thought, His request had to be a bit surprising to an already tired Peter and his unnamed co-worker.  He was asking them to stop their necessary work to do as He asked.  You can hear the reluctance in Peter’s words, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.”

Sometimes in life maybe we are just a little off of where we need to be.  Close, but just not quite there yet.  It seems like that was the truth for Peter and the guys.  They were near Jesus, listening when they could, trusting Him enough to ask Him for help when it was urgent like when Peter’s mother-in-law was sick…but not quite as near to Him as they needed to be.  And looking at their current situation, the fish were indeed in close proximity to where they were fishing, but somehow, all night they had caught not one.  Yet, Jesus goes one step further asking them to put out into even deeper water and let down their nets.  To their surprise, following Jesus’ instructions, they had caught more than their nets and boats could hold.  We can see by Peter’s reaction that this lesson humbled him.

“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’  For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.” Luke 5:8-9

The bible note attached to this Scripture in the New International Version (NIV) Life Application Study Bible shares that there are two requirements for coming to Jesus: one–we must recognize our own sinfulness just as Peter did, and two–we must realize we cannot save ourselves.  So following Jesus clearly means more than merely acknowledging Him as our Savior and God.  It is not enough to watch Him from the corner of our eyes, nodding our head in agreement with His words, while we go about our lives our own way.

Personally I can relate to Peter’s feelings at that moment in the boat.  Sometimes I am overwhelmed by His provision and His presence that I, too, find myself dropping to my knees afraid, unworthy and deeply humbled by the momentary understanding of Who He is and what He is doing.  Not merely a friend, a teacher, a healer, but God, Who is moving in our lives and asking us to be a willing part of His work in this world of His.

And–maybe at that moment–being that it was the second time that Jesus had called Peter to follow, Peter realized just how sinful he was for doubting Jesus’ first beckoning.  You see Jesus had already met Simon and had even given him the new name of Peter.  He had been to Peter’s house and healed his mother-in-law.  In fact, Peter had watched him heal many others.  It appears he had often seen Jesus stand on the shores of his lake and teach those willing to listen.  Peter probably heard His words and felt His power as Jesus sought to bring the kingdom of God to those near.  And maybe, just maybe, Peter finally could see that returning to his trade of fishing rather than following Jesus was a mistake.  Is it possible that he understood that a half-hearted commitment is really no commitment at all? That listening from the boat while Jesus was on the shore wasn’t the same as being by His side.  Maybe deep in his soul, Peter finally understood that he was slightly off from where he needed to be when he uttered, “‘Go away from me, Lord.  I am a sinful man.’”

The beauty of this all comes into view when we look for Jesus in this picture.  Stepping back on shore, we see that Jesus had remained near, patiently waiting for Peter and the others to become truly committed to Him.  He didn’t give up on them despite their reluctance and hesitation, and He didn’t leave them behind.  Nor did He force them into obedience and demand their allegiance.  He just gently continued to reach out, to care for their loved ones, to teach them lessons they didn’t even know they were learning, and to wait until their faith in Him outgrew their fear of the unknown.

“Don’t be afraid…”

Jesus understands and knows the depth of our fears.  He understands mine; He understands yours.  Oftentimes, better and truer than even we do.  And like Peter, we must come to understand that following fears to supposed “safe” places when Jesus is calling us somewhere else is not following Christ.  In fact, it is the opposite of what He wants and where He is going.

Jesus had a world waiting full of souls to be saved by Him as He patiently waited for Peter and the others…and as He waits for us.  Through Peter, we can learn that the beginning of really following God starts with a distinct awareness and heartfelt confession that sticking to what we know and trust may actually lead us to sin when Jesus is asking us to put it down and follow Him.  When we fail to let go, we are displaying more faith in what we are afraid to release than in Him.  Those fears and justifications may very well be what is holding us back from a journey that draws us and others closer to Him.

Jesus, in turn, wants to remove our fears–the ones that cause us to be devoted to something else and replace them with the special purpose He has for each one of us.  Remember, the ultimate destiny of these simple and ordinary fishermen (much like you and I) was not to catch fish in the sea, but to become fishers of men on the land…

“Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.'”  Luke 5:10