4 Now when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon responded and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to tear; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, to the point that they were sinking. 8 But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” Luke 5: 4-8

At the Lake of Galilee, Jesus teaches people from the boat belonging to Simon Peter, an experienced fisherman. He tells Peter, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon Peter has a decision to make: listen to a man who has absolutely no experience in fishing or listen to Jesus and His word. We’re confronted with this dilemma all the time. On the one hand, we have our sober considerations, our professional experience telling us to do one thing. And on the other side, we have the word of God, His commands, telling us to do something that makes no sense. What do we do? 

Peter listens to Jesus and fills his boats with fish. He feels sinful for doubting Jesus. He falls to Jesus’ knees and says, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” When Peter listens to Jesus, God has authority over the fish, the water, the net not ripping apart from all the fishes… When we listen to God, He has sovereignty over all things! Just like Simon Peter who has been out all night trying to catch fish and failing, he knows the seas. He knows there are no fish to be caught. But he listens to God anyway. Once we listen and obey, God, who created the world in six days, makes His divine power clear to us in unexpected ways. 

If we listen to God, He blesses us. If we turn away from God, the Lord leaves us. Turning away from the Lord means turning away from His word. Obeying His word means obeying Jesus. So we have a choice before us. Do we listen to Jesus and throw the net or do we decline His command? Do we throw the net or do we call it a day? Do we obey and welcome God or do we shun His Word and turn away from God? We make these kinds of decisions all the time. 

When we obey His command, it might seem at first to be the wrong choice. People will tell you you’re making a dumb decision. It will appear to be the wrong decision because you immediately experience some negative fallout. But here’s where people get fooled. When you don’t listen to God, it seems like the right decision in the beginning. Things look good. The people around you applaud you for making the right decision. But when the dust settles and some time has passed, it becomes abundantly clear, you made the wrong decision. So when you go against God, the beginning is good, but the ending is bad. When you listen and obey, the beginning might seem rough, but the result turns out to be an amazing blessing. 

It all comes down to our decision to welcome His Word or turn away from His word. What kind of choices have you been making? Do you rely on your experience as a fisherman to make all the decisions in your life? Or can you commit to an act of faith that transcends your experience and ego? Let’s live according to His word! If we do, we experience the first stage of His blessings, which is worldly blessings. God showers us with His infinite blessings. We do well and succeed. Once we experience this, we forgo worldly wealth for spiritual wealth. We aim to be rich in heaven. We aim to be spiritually wealthy. If we obey God… If we throw the net when Jesus asks us to, we can attain both levels of blessings. For what more can we ask? 

Click for Korean sermon. https://soundcloud.com/yhpaik/1985-10-7-short