“And He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, He asked him to thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people out of the boat. And as He stopped speaking, He said to Simon, Launch out into the deep and let your nets down for a haul.

And answering, Simon said to Him, Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing. Yet at Your word I will let down the net.” Luke 5:3 -5

A lot of people gathered by the lake Gennesaret and were eager to hear Jesus speak. But there was a small problem. Jesus couldn’t be seen by the multitude. Jesus then asked Simon to thrust his boat a little from the land. It was a simple command which Simon immediately obeyed. And Jesus sat down and taught the people out of the boat.

Later, when Christ told Simon to launch out into the deep and let down his net for a haul, he also obeyed. His obedience was clearly of faith because he explained to Jesus that they toiled all night and have taken nothing. But he said: “yet at Your word, I will let down the net”.

This is the principle of obedience: obedience in little things, and obedience in big things. Obedience in small thing is easier to follow. Thrusting the boat a little far from the shore was not difficult to do. Obedience in “big things” happens when the outcome is uncertain, and sometimes we feel its unfavorable to us. In times like this, obedience if not of faith is difficult.

When Simon Peter obeyed to launch out into the deep, he was not really thinking that a great catch would happen. He simply obeyed. He trusted the Word of Jesus. And right before his very eyes, a spectacular show of God’s power happened. There was a great catch of fish, so unimaginable and unexplainable. It was a miracle he was blessed to witness because he obeyed Jesus by faith.

Lesson:

1. We should obey Jesus in small and big things. Small like not giving in to sweets and fatty foods; big like giving up a lucrative and prestigious career for the sake of the ministry.
2. In obeying God, we should not be after the “perceived” outcome of our obedience – whether it is favorable for us or not. What is important is the act of obedience. If we are concern about the outcome, we are obviously thinking about ourselves
3. We must be sensitive to our everyday action. We must obey in matters big or small.