”When he [Jesus] finished teaching, he said to Simon [Peter], ‘Push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch.’
Simon said, ‘Master, we’ve been fishing hard all night and haven’t caught even a minnow. But if you say so, I’ll let out the nets.’ It was no sooner said than done – a huge haul of fish, straining the nets past capacity.” (Luke 5:4-5 MSG)
The boats went out, the nets went in, and Peter and his friends were blessed. They pulled in a ‘huge haul of fish,’ nearly swamping the boats with the abundance.
I love that story. It’s a story of love and compassion, faith and obedience. It provides a number of lessons for us. My favorite one is noting that Jesus encourages us to ‘let down our nets” into his abundance of blessing, too. Although Paul wrote the following verse to the Christians in Philippi, I believe it applies to us, too.
“You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19 MSG)
He showers us with a love far greater than we can ever imagine.
He fills our daily needs and shares with us the beauty and delights of nature.
When we trust in him, he gives us peace in the midst of our trials and the strength to bear them.
When we have more questions than answers, he gives us wisdom to sort things out, teaches us what is best for us, and directs us in the way we should go.
He provides a refuge for us when we are in distress, and a stronghold in times of trouble.
He gives us confidence when our self-esteem is low, encourages us when we are discouraged and rejoices with us when thing are going well.
He comforts us in sorrow.
When we laugh, he laughs with us, and when we cry, he cries with us.
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In Psalms 37:4 it says: “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Yes, all of these blessings, and many more, fill our nets to overflowing. And yet, and have not mentioned his greatest blessing. The gift of himself. He gave his own life on the cross, taking our sins on himself, so we could be forgiven and spend eternity with him.
Then, he conquered death, rose from the dead, and now dwells in eternal glory with the Father. And because he lives, we, too, shall live, and he is waiting for us to join him. When we do, he will place a glorious crown of righteousness on our heads. (2 Tim. 4:8).
Is your net overflowing with the abundance of Christ’s blessings? If not, why not accept him as your Savior today, and dip your net into the sea of his blessings.
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Beautiful article! So true & so comforting knowing how God is always there, wanting only the best for us.. Keep up the good work! :) (& thank you for the complement on my article as well!)
