True Faith



“And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net… Luke 5:3-5.”

True faith is taking God at His Word. There are many examples of true faith in the Bible, and in this passage, Peter is about to learn that lesson. To many of His day, Jesus was the new teacher in town, and when He talked, people listened. In this text, Jesus requests the use of a boat in order to keep the crowd from smothering Him as he spoke. The boat that He got into belonged to Peter. What Peter did not realize is that the moment Jesus stepped into the boat; life would never be the same.

After preaching to the multitude, Jesus turns His attention to a crowd of one: Peter. He directs his future disciple to launch the boat out into the sea for a catch. Peter’s response was based on experience. He was being real with Jesus. Many times, when Jesus asks us to do something that appears not to make sense, we feel the need to get real with Jesus, and tell him our situation. We often stop at the first part of peter’s answer. We say, we have tried everything, but no result. The response from Peter is incredible. Here he is an experienced fisherman and he is trusting this carpenter turned teacher.

Remember that Jesus was and is God; he knows everything and he understands everything. His deity shines through in this story, Jesus knows us totally; he knows our needs and he provides. Peter shared with Jesus the fact that he and his friends had been fishing all night long and caught nothing. However, Peter did not stop there. What he says next would change his life forever: “Nevertheless, at Thy Word I will let down the nets.”

Faith looks beyond our obstacles! Perhaps you have toiled all year at your church and seen no fruit… don’t give up! Keep letting down your nets. The fish will come in due time. Peter obeyed Jesus, even when it did not make sense. Listen carefully: Jesus did not need to know anything about fishing, because He was in control of the sea and the fish that were in it! As soon as Peter let down the nets, Jesus called for the fish to fill them! And that principle works for you and me today. Jesus knows what we are dealing with, and He has the power to command every situation to bow to His will.

So take Him at His Word, and wait patiently on Him to move on your behalf. Faith is summed up in this verse in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Peter and his fellow fishermen were tired. They were frustrated. They were demoralized. But, this one act of obedience by Peter transformed a long night of failure to a moment of overwhelming success!

There is another important lesson we must consider. After looking at the abundance of fish, and the financial benefit that would come from the catch, Peter took another leap of faith: He walked away from the fish, and the financial success to follow Christ. As Christians, there are two insights we gain from this passage: First, we need to take God at His Word and let down our nets. Second, we need to be willing to walk away from the “catch” and follow Christ, depending on Him and Him alone to meet our needs.

God Bless, Keith