BBD 08.13.07 When God Speaks
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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08.13.07
When God Speaks
For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which
they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who
were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid. From
now on you will catch men." So when they had brought their boats to land,
they forsook all and followed Him. - Luke 5:9-11.
This scene came about after Jesus had finished speaking to a large gathering
of people. They had all been gathered on the shore and Jesus had gotten into
Simon's fishing boat asking that they push out a ways from the shore. There
from the boat Jesus had talked to the people. After he was finished he asked
Simon to do what He knew Simon would think was an absurd thing to do. He
asked Simon to "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch
(Luke 5:4b)." Simon responded with what could only have been frustration and
tiredness as he said this to Jesus, "Master, we have toiled all night and
caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net (Luke
5:5)."
Simon Peter and his friends had worked all night and had not caught a thing
but now they try again. What happens is that they catch so many fish that
both of their boats begin to sink from the weight of the fish. It had never
happened before and they knew, that they knew that only God Himself could
make something like that happen. The Bible says that when Simon Peter saw
this happen, "he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Depart from me, for I
am a sinful man, O Lord!'"
It could only be through Simon recognizing that Jesus was God Himself that
he could make the decision that he made to leave his career in fishing and
begin to follow Jesus. Can you imagine the conversation that he must have
had with his wife? "Honey, I'm going to stop fishing and begin following
this Rabbi Jesus around for three or four years." The Bible does not record
that conversation and I think we know why. I just read this last week that
when pastor's wives were asked what the most devastating thing was that had
happened to their marriage that half said that it was when their husbands
entered the ministry.
Leaving all and following Jesus is not an easy decision but it is the only
decision to make when you come to the realization that the Lord Himself is
calling you and that He knows more about you than you know yourself. I can
still remember sitting at our dining room table having my quiet time one
morning when the truth of God's call upon my life was staring me in the face
through His Word. God spoke in His still small voice and I heard.
When you know that you know that the Lord wants you to do something with
your life how do you turn away? However, the sad fact is that so many of God's
children try to keep Him at arm's length so that they are never faced with
that decision. They don't pray, at least not enough. They don't read the
Bible, at least not more than a token amount. They don't go to church more
than on Sunday mornings. So how would they ever hear? How will you ever hear
if you never talk with your Lord, you never seek His will for your life as
you study the Scriptures, if you never seek to hear His voice as you worship
Him and listen to the messages that the preacher preaches?
Sometimes lightening does strike and God imparts a vision or in some other
way communicates with a person to gain their attention for what His will is
for their lives. But it is very, very rare. God is still speaking today and
He wants to speak to you. You have to let him in as James says in James
4:7b, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." God has something for
you to do with your life - let Him tell you.
Copyright © 2007. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
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