“Now when (Jesus) had left speaking, He said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your net for a draught (catch).”
The background for this text is the occasion when, because of the crowd of people pressing Him, Jesus got into Simon Peter’s boat and began to teach the people, probably from the stern of the boat. When He had finished teaching the people, Jesus told Peter to go into deeper waters and let down his nets for a catch. Peter told Jesus that they had fished all night but had caught nothing, and then he added: “Nevertheless, at your word I will let down the net.” Peter did let down the nets, and they caught so many fish that the nets broke. As I read this, I thought: What if Peter had not let down the net? The answer, of course, is that Peter and his companions would not have caught as many fish as they did. That made me think of how we need to heed the voice of Jesus when He tells us to “let down our nets.” This means that He has a greater task for us and if we obey Him we will see great things happen. It occurs to me that some churches do not see great things happen because they do not “let down their nets” when Jesus tells them to do so. He tells them to go into deeper waters, where the “fish” are, and they decide to stay within the four walls of their church buildings and be satisfied with empty nets. The churches that do “launch out into the deep and let down their nets” see the rewards that come with it. It also occurs to me that individual Christians do not see great things happen because they do not “launch out into the deep and let down their nets.” When we refuse to obey Jesus to go deeper and “let down our nets” we miss out on a lot that Jesus has for us. Let’s think of some things that we might miss out on if we do not obey Jesus in this matter. Let’s think of the victories that we might not have because we have decided to stay right where we are spiritually. Of course, the metaphor lends itself to winning people to Jesus, but there are other results when we go deeper and cast our nets. “Going deeper” means that we are going deeper into our faith, and this comes about by much prayer and Bible reading. For example, it might be that you cannot have victory over some habit that you know is stunting your Christian growth, but you just cannot give it up. Believe me; I know how this can be. You will not have the victory that you can have if you will overcome the habit in the power of Jesus. That is just one example of what it could mean in your life if you would just cut loose, “launch out into the deep and let down your nets.” I’m sure that you can think of other areas of your life that need the powerful touch of Jesus. Like everything else, we overcome by faith in Jesus and by obedience to Him. Let’s think of the blessings that we might not experience because we have decided not to obey Jesus. When we “let down our nets” in the world by witnessing to people, we have the blessing of seeing them saved and their lives changed. We will not have such a blessing if we do not obey Jesus' command to “let down our nets.” We might also miss the blessing of deeper and more meaningful fellowship with Jesus and with our fellow Christians if we stay in the shallow waters. Think of the joy that Peter, Andrew, James and John had when their nets were full. They were blessed because they obeyed Jesus. If you want to experience the greater blessings that Jesus has for you, you need to get out of the shallow waters, go deeper with Him and “let down your nets.” There is no time like the present to do it. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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