Your Cart
Sub-Total: $0.00
Would You Drop Your Net?
1One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”5 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.”6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 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.8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Releasing Your Hold into God’s Hands
Imagine, being drained and defeated from an all night fishing excursion only to come up empty handed. Then, to be greeted by a strange man asking to use your boat, just as you were cleaning your nets. How would you have responded?
Simon Peter, a fisherman by trade, experienced this very incident. Distracted by cleaning his net and envisioning a few hours of shut eye, the Teacher began preaching from his boat. When He finished, He told Simon to let down his nets, which I am sure were already clean by this time.
Simon’s frustration festered as he responded first with a reminder of his less than victorious night of fishing. Out of respect for this Man, he let down his net again. Let’s jump in Simon’s head for a minute. He is exhausted, overcome by a long night of getting skunked! So when Jesus asked him to do something He had repeatedly done all night and was unsuccessful, his irritated response reminding this Teacher he just met was, “Hey man, what do you think I’ve been doing all night?”
However, his initial response to Jesus choosing to preach from his boat completely changed the moment he let down his net.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NET The net was their way of life. It wasn’t just fibers woven together to capture fish. It provided for them. When Jesus called them to ‘drop their nets and follow Him,’ He wasn’t just asking for a physical act, but a spiritual one! He called them to something much greater than themselves!
What happened next? Simon Peter fell to his knees overwhelmed by Jesus’s goodness and presence and told Him to go away, for he was a sinful man!
Don’t you think Jesus knew that? He walked this earth to seek and save the lost (LUKE 19:10).
SIGNIFICANCE OF COMMUNITY Many times we view Christ’s crucifixion as His only mission, however, there was another special part. And that was to create community. When He called the twelve, He was equipping, loving and growing them even when they didn’t see it. They needed fellowship with Jesus to have access to the Father. And the Father desired fellowship with us through Jesus.
Casting Crowns lead singer, Mark Hall shared his testimony years back and he said something that has never left me,
“Jesus said to me, I don’t need you, I want you!
Dying on the cross was something He didn’t need anyone else for, but fellowship was something He desired so intimately! And whether we see it or not, it’s embedded deep in who we are! God created us in His image which means we crave community! He chose to commune and conquer!
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CROSS J.D. Greer said it best in his Easter Study,
“Jesus didn’t just come to die FOR you, but INSTEAD of you.”
The cross is more than a well-known symbol in the Christian world. It is the very element that bridged the gap sin created by cradling Christ when God Himself couldn’t bare to look. Alone with the weight of our transgressions bearing down on Him, every drop of His crimson blood began to wash away the tainted and torn stains of our sins!
Christ’s love for us goes deeper than we could even begin to imagine! (JOHN 15:13) Through God’s Word we see time and time again of this love that never ceases.
After Simon ‘dropped his net and followed Jesus’, something amazing happened. That lowly fisherman that Jesus called to ‘lay down his net’ and trust Him, did as Jesus commanded and began to ‘fish for people.’ In MATTHEW 16:18 Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter, which comes from the Greek word meaning ‘rock.’ The rock on which His church would be built. Yet, it wasn’t until after Christ’s resurrection that Peter preached boldly of the Gospel and ‘about three thousand were added to their numbers that day.’ (ACTS 2:41)
One of my favorite scriptures ties together what we’ve touched on today and is found in JOHN 21 when Jesus reappears to His disciples after His resurrection. Peter decides to go fishing (for fish again) with a few of the disciples and a stranger on the shore calls to them asking if they’ve caught any fish. (Does this story seem rather familiar?) When they respond with a disheartened, no, the Man says, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” Suddenly, the net began to sink deep into the water. When Peter recognized it was Jesus, he jumped into the water to get to Him faster.
The relationship that Jesus and Peter had was beautiful! His need to be with Jesus in that very moment is so moving and inviting! And here’s the best part, YOU can have that too! The question you must ask yourself is are you willing to release your own hold on life into God’s hands? Just as Peter did, would you drop YOUR net and follow Him?
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
