Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. [Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)]
After using Peter’s boat as a preaching platform, Jesus told him to take the boat out to deeper water and let down his nets. Fishing was a way of life in Galilee and Peter, Andrew, James, and John probably started fishing with their fathers when they were just youngsters. Can you imagine their reaction to this inexperienced carpenter’s son from Nazareth telling them how to fish? Didn’t the rabbi know that net fishing was done at night when the fish were more active and less likely to see the linen nets? Having fished all night, the men were tired. By that time, they’d cleaned their nets and hung them to dry; they were ready to go home, eat, and get some sleep. Experience told them that if they’d caught nothing that night, they certainly weren’t going to catch anything in the light of day! Nevertheless, even though Peter balked at Jesus’ unusual command, he and his partners reloaded their gear, took out their boats, and let down their nets.
Fishing in deep water was done with a rectangular 3-layered, 500-foot, five-sectioned trammel net and two boats were used. After the first boat stealthily dropped the nets, the second would cause such a commotion with noise and splashing that the frightened fish would flee into the nets and get trapped in the inner mesh. The previous night, the men probably dropped and raised the trammel fifteen times to no avail but, that morning, their nets became so full of fish that they began to tear. The second boat was needed to hold the overflowing nets and both boats were on the verge of sinking from the weight. It seems that Jesus rewarded Peter and his partners quite handsomely for the use of Peter’s boat and their obedience to his instructions!
The second time Jesus told these experienced fishermen how to fish occurred after His resurrection. The men had spent an entire night casting their net with nothing to show for it when Jesus called from the shore and told them to cast it from the right side of the boat. Again, Jesus’ directions made no sense. Any fisherman knows that changing a net’s location by only a few feet won’t change the outcome—if the fish aren’t on the left side of the boat, they’re not on the right. Moreover, a net never was cast from the starboard side where the rudder mechanism was located. When pulling it up, the net could get tangled in the steering board, damage the boat, and tear. Nevertheless, the disciples did as Jesus directed, dropped it on the right side, and had another miraculous catch—one so heavy that, unable to haul the net into the boat, they had to drag it into shore!
These two stories demonstrate the obedience of faith along with the blessings that accompany obedience. Jesus’ fishing instructions weren’t just unconventional to the seasoned fishermen, they seemed unreasonable and imprudent. Nevertheless, the disciples trusted in the Lord rather than their own wisdom, left the results to Him, and were blessed with more than they could have imagined or hoped for.
We don’t have to understand the why of God’s directions, we must simply trust and obey Him! These stories tell us that faith-fueled obedience yields blessings. Rather than a boatload of fish, however, it will be a boatload of blessings beyond our wildest expectations both in this world and the next! As the old hymn says: “Trust and obey, For there’s no other way, To be happy in Jesus, But to trust and obey.” [John Henry Sammis]
The Bible recognizes no faith that does not lead to obedience, nor does it recognize any obedience that does not spring from faith. The two are at opposite sides of the same coin.[A.W. Tozer]
In Sharon Garlough Brown’s novel, Two Steps Forward, a character choses to pray the Hebrew word hineni during Advent. When another character calls it a beautiful but “costly” prayer, I grew curious about this word. Hineni is composed of two little words, hineh and ani. By itself, hineh is usually translated as “behold” but, when combined with ani (meaning “I”), it usually is translated as “Here I am,” “I’m here,” or “Yes.” However, like shalom, the Hebrew hineni loses the depth of its meaning in translation.
Today’s verses are from the Tree of Life Version (TLV) that was produced by a diverse team of Christian and Messianic Jewish scholars. With the possible exception of the book of Job, all the Bible’s writers were Jews and Jesus was a Hebrew-speaking Jewish rabbi. No matter how good the translation, there are times English doesn’t capture the fullness of the original words used and this translation embraces the rich Hebrew roots of Christianity. To help the reader better understand the intent of the original manuscripts, some original Hebrew names, like Adonai (Lord) and Elohim (God), Ruach ha-Kodesh (Holy Spirit), and Messiah Yeshua (Jesus Christ) were used and some Hebrew terms, like shalom, amen, hineni, matzah, and mikveh (ritual bath), were restored. Fortunately, this translation offers a glossary for its Gentile readers.
I began my prayer with, “Lord, you’ve got to…” but got no further. “God doesn’t ‘got to’ do anything!” said a still small voice and the Spirit’s point was well taken. By beginning with an impertinent demand like a selfish petulant child in a toy store, I showed chutzpah of the worst kind and began again.
While writing Monday’s devotion about the seemingly insurmountable giants we face, I wondered about the identity of my Goliath. Of who or what am I afraid? What giant looms over me and blinds me to the presence of God?
Devotions of the Heart 