Luke 5: 1-11 (ESV)
On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
Comment:
A simple practical solution ……. He needed more space, so Jesus hopped onto a spare boat and was able to have a good teaching session, free from the pressing crowd.
This led to a life-changing encounter for Simon….. Jesus saw the owner mending nets and an empty boat after a night’s unsuccessful fishing. So he gave the command to throw out the nets again – and the frustrated Simon obeyed (he must have been listening as Jesus taught) with a sigh of frustration – almost as if saying ‘what a waste of time. How does this Rabbi thinks he knows more about fishing than I do?’ He was surprised into joy, the joy of a good catch. And surprised into acknowledgement of the Rabbi, who gave him a new job. It was a deep experience as it brought him to recognize that he was indeed a sinner. A change from fisherman to fisherman – from catching fish to catching men.
Prayer: Do you have a job for me,Jesus?
As I read it! 