“1. And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2. And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fisherman were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 4. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: neveretheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they would come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:”
The word draught means that which is taken by sweeping of a net. Put yourself in Peter’s shoes for a minute. The Bible says he had toiled all night. The word toil means to weary or over labor. Peter has been trying for success all night, but now they have given up. They are washing their nets in frustration because its been a long night of absolutely nothing. Have you been there? Have you tried so hard at something that you have had success with in the past? Remember that Peter is a professional fisherman. Many times in our own lives we try so hard at success, but the end turns into emptiness and frustration because we walk away empty handed. Doing the ministry in our own power will never work out for us. Maybe your not in full time ministry, but if your saved you should be plugged into a ministry somewhere in your church. Soul winning, Sunday school teacher, bus worker, evangelist, missionary, grounds crew, etc. There are days when we try to do things in our own power, but yet we never get anywhere. The biggest problem of our failure is because we are not listening to the Word of God. We are not allowing Him to give the blessing. Notice how Peter responds to Jesus Christ when He tells him to launch out into the deep for a draught, “…Master, we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.” Its like Peter is saying, don’t you understand Lord, we have been out here all night and there aren’t any fish in this area! Peter’s frustration caused him to disobey at Jesus’ direction. He let down the net, not the nets. Jesus said let down the nets! Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.” Are you truly following God’s direction today? His blessings are beyond anything that we could ever imagine. Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Covid 19 has been a big hold up to those doing the work of the ministry. Does it feel like nothing is working? Have you stopped and thought, Maybe I need to seek the Lord about this! Maybe I need to listen to what God has to say about the matter and truly trust in His Word! Ezekiel 34:26 “And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.” God is faithful! Don’t get frustrated! Look to the LORD! Even though Peter had a faithless response, God still blessed. God will bless us as well, if we would just listen and obey every word of God!
Memory Verse Week 8/24/20
Ezekiel 34:26
“And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.”
