WORD From The Woods
Luke 5:1-11
“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.”
Matthew 4:19-22
“And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.”
These guys were fishermen, they worked long hard hours probably for very little reward. It was family business, Peter and Andrew were brothers, as well as James and John. This wasn’t just something these guys did for fun. It was a way of life for them, something that probably ran in their blood just like their dads and grandfathers. The passage says they we’re toiling all night and hadn’t caught a thing. If you’ve been in the woods for very long at all you can definitely relate to these guys! After working all night Jesus comes along and tells them go out and cast their nets again. Reluctantly, they did what Jesus asked and they filled their nets to the point that the boats were at risk of sinking! I’m sure that this was an incredible feeling for these guys. I would have been thinking about all the bills that could get paid and what a great boost this payday would be. I think it would be like toiling away at a job with junk timber and tough ground all winter, and finally hitting some good weather and having that perfect stand of timber. Knowing that production was going to be high. You know, one of those jobs that you’ll never forget! And then, Jesus says to them leave all this and I will make you fishers of men! Put yourself in their shoes, imagine Jesus standing on the landing of that perfect, once in a lifetime job and asking you to leave it and Follow Him, and He will make you a logger of men. Instead of harvesting timber, you’ll be harvesting people for Christ. This isn’t to say that there is anything wrong with fishing or logging, or that we need to leave our job to follow Jesus. The point is that Jesus is calling us to follow Him with our whole heart, serving Him as our King and Master! We pour our lives into this profession we call logging. We need to be willing to pour ourself into God’s calling on our life! For most of us, this won’t be to leave our job and go into full time ministry in a church somewhere. It will be to follow Jesus with zeal and purpose right where we’re at every day and serve Him first. The people around us need to know who Jesus Christ is, and the best way for them learn about Him is though the testimony of our words and actions, by us actually living like true Christ followers, by us living and working to the glory of God and proclaiming the gospel to those around us! As one of my favorite pastors, Doug Wilson says, “if Christ isn’t Lord of all, He isn’t Lord at all.”
God Bless and have a great week! -Terry-
Luke 5:1-11
“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.”
Matthew 4:19-22
“And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.”
These guys were fishermen, they worked long hard hours probably for very little reward. It was family business, Peter and Andrew were brothers, as well as James and John. This wasn’t just something these guys did for fun. It was a way of life for them, something that probably ran in their blood just like their dads and grandfathers. The passage says they we’re toiling all night and hadn’t caught a thing. If you’ve been in the woods for very long at all you can definitely relate to these guys! After working all night Jesus comes along and tells them go out and cast their nets again. Reluctantly, they did what Jesus asked and they filled their nets to the point that the boats were at risk of sinking! I’m sure that this was an incredible feeling for these guys. I would have been thinking about all the bills that could get paid and what a great boost this payday would be. I think it would be like toiling away at a job with junk timber and tough ground all winter, and finally hitting some good weather and having that perfect stand of timber. Knowing that production was going to be high. You know, one of those jobs that you’ll never forget! And then, Jesus says to them leave all this and I will make you fishers of men! Put yourself in their shoes, imagine Jesus standing on the landing of that perfect, once in a lifetime job and asking you to leave it and Follow Him, and He will make you a logger of men. Instead of harvesting timber, you’ll be harvesting people for Christ. This isn’t to say that there is anything wrong with fishing or logging, or that we need to leave our job to follow Jesus. The point is that Jesus is calling us to follow Him with our whole heart, serving Him as our King and Master! We pour our lives into this profession we call logging. We need to be willing to pour ourself into God’s calling on our life! For most of us, this won’t be to leave our job and go into full time ministry in a church somewhere. It will be to follow Jesus with zeal and purpose right where we’re at every day and serve Him first. The people around us need to know who Jesus Christ is, and the best way for them learn about Him is though the testimony of our words and actions, by us actually living like true Christ followers, by us living and working to the glory of God and proclaiming the gospel to those around us! As one of my favorite pastors, Doug Wilson says, “if Christ isn’t Lord of all, He isn’t Lord at all.”
God Bless and have a great week! -Terry-