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, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 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. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. 5 And Simon answered, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets. 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 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. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 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. 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
How would you respond if you met the Lord? Would you rejoice and move toward him, or would you want to hide in fear? Peter reacted in the latter manner, when he realized that this teacher named Jesus had the power of God. Peter reacted out of shame, exclaiming "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man!" (verse 8). This sense of shame is what keeps many of us from approaching God, thus staying stuck in the sin that we think we deserve. What if Jesus had done as Peter requested and gone away from him? Peter would have stayed a poor defeated fisherman, feeling like a failure deep inside. But Jesus didn't go away. Instead Jesus responded "Do not be afraid" (verse 10), and invited Peter to become the man he had only dreamed about being.
Lord, thank you for loving me despite my sins.
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, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 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. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. 5 And Simon answered, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets. 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 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. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 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. 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
How would you respond if you met the Lord? Would you rejoice and move toward him, or would you want to hide in fear? Peter reacted in the latter manner, when he realized that this teacher named Jesus had the power of God. Peter reacted out of shame, exclaiming "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man!" (verse 8). This sense of shame is what keeps many of us from approaching God, thus staying stuck in the sin that we think we deserve. What if Jesus had done as Peter requested and gone away from him? Peter would have stayed a poor defeated fisherman, feeling like a failure deep inside. But Jesus didn't go away. Instead Jesus responded "Do not be afraid" (verse 10), and invited Peter to become the man he had only dreamed about being.
Lord, thank you for loving me despite my sins.