A Study In Luke - Day 2

Day 2- Luke 5:5-11 

5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” 6 And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.

8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” 9 For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. 10 His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.

Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on, you’ll be fishing for people!” 11 And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.

This is a favorite of mine. They seemed to at least have some knowledge of who Jesus was. Simon Peter was willing to follow his instructions, although he had not formally been introduced, and decided to follow Jesus.
 
There must have been something compelling about Jesus for a rough-and-tumble fisherman to be willing to follow his instructions, especially about fishing. I don’t know about you, but when I know how to do something, I rarely like to take advice!

I remember working on an old Land Cruiser that had blown a head gasket. I had never taken an engine apart before, and so I was neck-deep in both oil and trying to learn all I could from the forums for Landcruisers. At that point, I was willing to hear all the advice people had to give me. However, the next time I was rebuilding an engine, I was less interested in someone else’s advice since I thought I finally knew something about rebuilding Landcruiser engines. (IYKYK:)

The good news was that Simon Peter was interested in at least listening to Jesus. So he did what he was told to do, and sure enough, they soon caught so many fish that they needed other boats to haul the haul in.

But then came the realization that he wasn’t fishing at all, but he had witnessed a miracle, and now, everything needed to change. He wanted more of that because he had been involved in a miracle. This could have been one of the motivations to drop his nets and follow Jesus wherever he went.

That’s the funny thing about miracles: when you have had one, no one can tell you didn’t have that experience. This was one of those moments for Simon Peter.

1. What do you think you would need to experience to drop everything and follow Jesus where he was asking you to go?
   
2. What if he asks you to go somewhere you don’t want to? 
3. What does discipleship and followership look like for you?