Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
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Scripture |
Luke 5:1-115 Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 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. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7 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. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all who were with him were amazed 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. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. |
Devotional |
[T]he crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God.” This can be a difficult time when we are waiting to hear a word from God. This past weekend Joy and I attended a soccer tournament to see our twin grandsons play for San Angelo Central High School. I thought of those people beside the lake as we sat in the stands Saturday morning waiting for a score. Seventy-six minutes of play past before our team scored. In the final four minutes we saw them score two times and win 2 to 0. The game Friday night we watched them score two points in the first four minutes of the game. I believe the word from God sometimes comes quickly but sometime we wait and wait to hear a word from God. After delivering a word to the people Jesus told Simon to put out into the deep and put down the nets. These fishermen found an abundance of fish where they had not fished before. Success often comes after a difficult struggle and even hard times. Central won the game for the tournament championship Saturday afternoon 7 to 0. Brian made two goals in that game to receive mention and even a quote in Sunday sports section. Ben and two other players defended the goal to prevent the opponents from scoring. They did an excellent job of not allowing a score during the tournament but they did not receive recognition in the news reports. The spiritual journey can be like a soccer tournament. Sometime we struggle without seeing results but next time they may come quickly. Sometime we work all night without success. Sometime we receive credit but other times no mention for our efforts. Sometime only a word from the Lord, “Do not be afraid.” One other parallel I see is that Joy never reads the sports section except after a soccer game. Often I listen for a word from God only when there is a special interest, missing all the other words available everyday. Prayer: Lord, sometime we are eager to hear but other times we would like to hear only what we are comfortable with hearing. Often we are content to remain in the shallow water and avoiding the deep uncertain. Help us be at home in the shallow or deep and with the certain and uncertain |