5 Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; 2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. 4 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 answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” 11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him. Luke 5:1-11

When we listen to this lesson today, let’s truly believe in and make a commitment to act according to what we learn. Why do believers encounter misery in their lives? It is because they fail to follow God’s Word. They become like salt which has lost its taste. In this passage, there are two clear lessons we must take to heart to be salt that does not lose its taste.

When Jesus sees them, Peter and his fellow fishermen have worked all night and have not caught any fish. Peter and his cohorts were skilled fishermen. Yet, they failed to catch any fish. They labored all night. Here the night represents the world. They fished based on their worldly knowledge and skill; yet, they failed. This is the first lesson. When believers are chosen and begin to believe, we must understand that the skills and techniques we used before to succeed will no longer be effective. For believers, when we labor in the world guided by our own motives, our efforts will yield empty nets. This sin of following our own direction instead of God’s path blocks us from receiving God’s blessings. Until we abandon this sin, we can never receive God’s blessings.

After Jesus boards Peter’s boat, Jesus directs them to go out into the deep water and cast their nets. Peter responds that, though they have fished all night, they have caught nothing. Peter begrudgingly agrees to do so, though he is absolutely sure through his experience that they will catch nothing. Fishermen know that fish are caught at night, not during the day when they can easily escape their nets. Completely doubting him, Peter casts the net thinking inside he will prove Jesus wrong. Instead, they caught so many fish that two boats overflowed with them. This is the second lesson we must learn: when we cast our nets as Jesus directs, our nets will be full. When we choose to follow God, though all worldly common sense says we will fail, we will succeed through God’s miracles and blessings.. 

Like Peter, we believers will inevitably face moments in our lives where worldly thinking and obeying God are in direct conflict. We may need to work on Sunday or risk losing our jobs. Just this once, do we betray God? Know that, when we do, we will fail. If we betray our faith to make money, we will not earn anything lasting. Though we may not fail immediately, failure is inevitable. So remember, we can work all night, but believers who do not obey God’s word will never catch any fish. When we repent and obey, we receive God’s blessings and even blessings we do not expect. In this passage where he becomes a disciple and later when Jesus visits them after his resurrection in John 21, Jesus directs Peter where to cast his net resulting in a catch that nearly bursts them. We must learn that, as believers, even if the world dictates the opposite, we succeed when we follow God’s word. This is when God blesses us. 

How did they catch so many fish? God is all powerful and all creation follows his directives. If God directs them to fly, fish will fly. God sends us his blessings and miracles when we obey Him. Peter immediately understands it is God he must follow. After catching the fish, in Verse 8, Peter “fell down at Jesus’ feet.” Why? Peter was fearful because he realized that how he had lived his life up to that point was completely wrong. Peter repents and drops everything to follow Jesus as his disciple abandoning his old value system and approach to living. We must do the same. Though taking that test or choosing not to work on Sunday may seem foolish, we must choose to follow God. Though obeying God directly contradicts what the world directs, we succeed in all things beyond our expectations when we choose to live according to God’s Word.

Peter did not catch the fish with his worldly skill. Peter and his fellow fisherman caught the fish because they followed Jesus’ direction. God’s miraculous power caught the fish. God’s miracles and blessings come to those who choose to obey God’s truth. Do we believe this? We must. Let’s commit to this. Why do so many fail? We fail when we choose to live according to our own desires, values, and experience rather than cast our nets where God directs.

Click for Korean sermon https://soundcloud.com/yhpaik/1985-10-6-1a-1