Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets” (Luke 5:5).

I know a little something about fishing.

I grew up in the Ozarks of Missouri where clear streams and rivers abound, and on the farm there were always ponds kept stocked with fish. We caught sunfish, blue gills, bass, and catfish out of the creeks and ponds. My cousins have even been known to “noodle” for catfish out of area lakes. (Google at your own risk!)

Later I married an ice fisherman, and I learned all about augers, tip-ups, and pulling fish out of holes in the ice in the upper Midwest. My ice fisherman has also had some deep sea fishing adventures, which I have politely declined to witness in person...though I’ve got a sailfish on a wall in my house as a result of one of those trips.

I have never, however, fished with nets. 

We ate everything we caught growing up, but my family’s next meal didn’t hinge upon a big catch out of the creek or pond. Peter, James, and John caught fish with nets, which meant they could potentially catch many at once; this is how they provided for their families. After a long night of casting nets and pulling them up empty, Jesus told them, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch” (verse 4). They did as they were told, and their faith was rewarded in a catch so large that their boats began to sink!

If Peter had chosen not to listen to Jesus, the ramifications on the early church would have been monumental. We might not be called to something as life changing as helping to establish the early church as Peter was, but if you think about it Peter wasn’t asked to do anything enormous at first either. He wasn’t even asked to do anything different from what he already knew: he was asked to go fishing!

God’s love for Peter is able to take care of Peter’s needs (and then some!). If Jesus could provide for Peter, He can provide for us in big ways, too...then maybe we can trust him, follow him, obey him, and become what he sees in us.

Have you been a passive participant in life these last several months? Have you felt the nudge of Someone asking you to respond to an ask during this season? Why not say yes?

If you'd like to read or re-read the overview/summary of this week's passage, you can find it here.