Luke 5:1-6

Luke 5:1-6

And it became, as the crowd pressed into Him even to hear the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.  And He saw two boats placed beside the lake.  But the fishermen who came out from them were washing the nets.  And after getting into one of the boats, the one which was of Simon, He asked him to go away from the land a little way.  And after sitting down He was teaching the crowd out of the boat.  And as He finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Return to the deep water and let down your nets in order to get a catch.”  And answering, Simon said, “Master, after laboring through the whole night we received nothing.  But at your word I will let down the nets.”  And after doing this they enclosed a great multitude of fish in the net.  And the nets were breaking under them.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus sees in opportunity.  The crowd has gathered around Him.  They are pressing in close.  Yesterday we saw Jesus’ need for some alone time.  Suddenly Jesus spies a couple of boats and opportunity strikes.  He enlists the captain of the boat to give Him a hand.  Jesus gets an opportunity to escape the immediate pressure of the crowd while still allowing teaching to happen.  Jesus removes Himself from the mob mentality of trying to get the closest to Him and allows some space for the higher thing – teaching about God’s Word – to happen.  I love that Jesus sees opportunity in the boats.

Do you see opportunity in the things around you?  How can you use the things around you to create opportunity to proclaim God’s message?

Second Thought:

The opportunity that Jesus seizes is more than just opportunity with the crowd.  The fisherman that Jesus enlists in Simon, who we know as Peter.  In the boats, Jesus sees a means to make a connection with a human being.  Through these boats, Jesus sees an opportunity to create relationship with a man who has it in him to follow Jesus incredibly closely.  In the boats, Jesus sees opportunity for discipleship.

Do you see opportunity for discipleship around you?  Where can you speak truth?  Who is willing to listen to that truth?

Third Thought:

Jesus also sees opportunity to display the kingdom of God in these boats.  Peter is obedient.  He was cleaning his nets after a long night of fruitless fishing.  But Peter obeys Jesus and takes Him out into the water.  Peter, a skilled fisherman, willingly takes the advice of a carpenter about how to fish and is obedient to that advice.  Because of His obedience, Jesus sees an opportunity to show Peter the abundance of the kingdom of God.  Jesus causes Peter to experience a tremendous catch of fish.  Peter has an opportunity to see first-hand that when we are obedient to God, God provides.

When has God provided in your life when you needed it?  What does God use in your life to bring you an opportunity to see the abundance of God and His kingdom?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 5:7-11