Undeserving

Have you ever felt you were not deserving of something good that happened to you?

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. - Luke 5:1-11

After spending the whole night out with their boats fishing and catching nothing, Simon Peter and his men were exhausted.

They were just finishing up the work of cleaning and organizing their nets when Jesus asks Simon Peter to take him out in the boat so he could talk to the crowd gathered on the shore.

For this act of support, Jesus was grateful and so he told Simon Peter to go out into the deep water and cast his nets one more time.

Now here is the turning point in the story, the point at which many of us might shake our heads and say, no.

Simon Peter is the fisherman.  He knows his business and he does it well.  He could have been insulted, his ego hurt, when Jesus told him to cast his nets again.

But Jesus had just spoken to the crowd and everyone heard the message.  Did they believe Jesus was someone from God?

So, Simon Peter does what Jesus tells him to do.  And that is a big deal, right?  

How many of us would have said I don't have time for this, I'm tired, it has been a long night, I want to go home and rest?

The catch was so great that Simon Peter was afraid.  He told Jesus he was undeserving, a sinner.  We don't know what sins he had committed, but they must have been significant for Simon Peter to crumble before Jesus.

Now what happens next is what I find most amazing.  When they bring the boats ashore, filled with the largest catch they had ever achieved, they leave it and follow Jesus.

What?

They abandon their jobs, give up their livelihood, risking everything, and they go.

Perhaps their partners who remained managed to sell the fish to the crowd and reaped the benefits.  I would hate to think the fish were left to rot.

So, what this says to us is that we should take a close look at what we are doing with out lives and see if we are deserving of something better, something closer to God.

We might just decide to throw in the towel and walk away.

More to come...