Deep Waters

     The fishermen were exhausted. They had been working all night and hadn’t caught a thing. They tiredly cleaned their nets on the beach in the early morning hours. Are you overwhelmed with exhaustion? Have you tried everything and come up empty? Surprisingly, Jesus gets into one of the empty boats and says,

“Put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch.” Luke 5:4b

    How would we respond? “I can’t.” "I have given it my best and nothing worked.” “I am too tired.” Here is Simon Peter’s reaction. It sounds familiar, but we might want to listen to the last portion of his response.

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.” Luke 5:5

     Have you been swimming in the shallow end of faith? When the answers aren’t immediate or your prayers aren’t answered in the way you expect, do you give up? Jesus challenges us to dive in a little deeper, to read the living water of His Words until eternity is etched in our hearts, until He is the answer to everything.

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. Luke 5:6

     Jesus is the answer to the emptiness, the loneliness, the unanswered prayer, the holes in the nets of our hearts. His love can fill and re-fill until our souls overflow. He challenges us to head to the deep waters and lower our nets. The abundant life is there for the taking.

Dear Jesus,

Take away our fear of diving in to the deep waters of trusting and obeying. You have the Words to eternal life. (John 6:68) Let our defeated attitudes change to saying yes to an overflowing life with You.

Amen