SCRIPTURE: Luke (NIV) 5:4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.
OBSERVATION: It is right to consider circumstances in making decisions for our lives. Peter had much experience in fishing. He was the expert. He understood that sometime fishing was an exercise in futility. However, Peter had come to understand something else. Jesus is Lord. What Jesus says trumps all circumstances. So Peter proceeded to do some more fishing! …but with different results!
APPLICATION: I am sure when I was a child, I was like so many other children whose favorite question seems to be, “Why?” I am sure that my parents, like so many other parents I have known, often responded, “Because I said so.”
Now I wonder if that was not God’s way of training me to respond to Him. I do not need to understand every aspect of the decision, but when He speaks, I do need to obey Him. “Because He said so” is a sufficient reason!
Fifteen years ago I started writing SOAPs, not because I wanted to do it, but simple because God made it clear He was telling me to do it! I wondered if God would give me something for every day of 2010. Yes, He did, and He has done so for 15 years. Some results are as Peter experienced in verse six.
Yesterday, I received a note from Bishop Emmanuel in Liberia. 78 SOAP MINISTRY team members spent three days, including Christmas day, distributing 89,000 copies of SOAPs in the streets of the capitol city of Monrovia. They have the names, addresses, and phone numbers of 2,750 people who gave their lives to Jesus!
PRAYER: Lord, You are faithful. I know I can trust you. “Because you said so” is enough of a reason to obey. Amen.
Pastor Leon
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