Put Out Into the Deep

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. Luke 5:1-11 

Even seasoned folks who live on the water and fish for a living can have those days. Those days when there is nothing to show for the exhausting, muscle-tearing hard work of fishing, and the only thing you look forward to is your bed. When you have done everything you know how to do and come up empty, you don't want to think about tomorrow. Whether we understand fishing or not, we can understand high stress, hard work that results in utter failure. The last thing we need is someone coming along and telling is what to do. We just want to go home and sleep. We do not want to head back out into deep, dangerous waters.

Jesus encounters some very tired, frustrated fisherman. Jesus was a carpenter's son and knew nothing about fishing, yet he suggested the exhausted men return to the deep. For some reason, they did, even though they knew better. Jesus encounters them at their lowest moments and fills their nets to overflowing. Their response is gratitude. They are ready to leave everything and follow him. We are reminded that Jesus finds us at our lowest, spent moments and promises to fill our nets again. We have to risk returning to the deep waters, yet we will find abundance and plenty as we risk it all for God.

Today, I ask God to help me put out into deep waters. May we set aside our jaded, "been there done that" attitudes and open our hearts to new possibilities for the love of the world.