Luke 5:4 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: nevertheless 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 should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
This passage of scripture recounts the experience of Peter and his fellow fishermen, as they acted upon Christ's word in faith, even though they had fished all night and had caught nothing. These men were not novices at their game, for they gained their livelihood from fishing, and because they were experienced in the business, Christ's command seemed to be far-fetched from reality. However, it is not necessary for a person to be fully convinced before stepping out in faith, for many of the commands of God can never be obeyed or appreciated from a mere logical standpoint, and without faith in Him, and implicit obedience to His every word, most of the victories that can be won, may remain beyond our reach. Let's read:
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
But the greater takeaway from this experience is the way in which Christ reorganized Peter's priorities, for like many Christians today, his prime energies were directed toward making a living, and taking care of his family. Now these are honorable duties and responsibilities which we must attend to, however the main focus of our existence and calling, is not primarily to make a living and provide for our daily bread, but instead, we should be seeking the salvation of souls, and the interests of God's kingdom, after which the promises of God will be certainly fulfilled in their due season, according to His good will.
This is what Christ did, and exemplified in this particular experience, for He well knew of their disappointed hopes of procuring their daily bread. But we observe that Christ makes no mention of their needs at first, but instead asks Peter to use his boat for evangelism. Peter may have very well repeated the words, "Master, carest thou not that we perish", but instead, he obeyed the word of Christ and participated in the evangelistic outreach effort that was the more important issue of the day. Then after seeking the salvation of his fellowmen, Christ turned to address Peter's temporal needs, and commanded as many fish as their boats could hold, to come and surrender their lives to Peter and his fellows. And the rest is history!
There are very important spiritual lessons for us to derive from this event, for it is often the case that the interests of God's kingdom are put on the back-burner of our minds, until after every temporal duty and responsibility have been attended to. Thus the salvation of our fellowmen often becomes an afterthought, being lost in a maze of hustling and bustling which often leads to nowhere. But God is calling us to seek His kingdom and His righteousness as our first priority, for if Christ is in second place in our lives for any reason, we too like Peter, may experience very disappointing days and nights on the high seas of life.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture which teaches us how to order our priorities, and if we follow the instructions thus given, we will find that all of the other important issues of life, will somehow fall into their rightful place, with resolutions to problems and answers to prayers, being our everyday experiences, not isolated occurrences. Let's read:
Matthew 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 "For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
May God add His blessing to the study and practice of His word. "Good night" and God bless!