Monday, July 18, 2005
Luke 5:5 But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net."
NOTHING'S MORE IMPORTANT
Peter and his fishing partners had spent the whole night on the water fishing without success. As we meet up with them in our text they are busy on the shore working with their equipment, cleaning their nets, setting them in order for the coming night when they hope to have better success.
Not far from the fishermen we see Jesus standing teaching God's Word to a multitude gathered on the shore. The audience was so huge and crowding around Him that only a few could hear His words. So Jesus, seeing fisherman Peter with his boat pulled ashore, asked permission to use it for a pulpit. Peter agreed. Jesus then stepped into the boat, had Peter row it out a short distance from land, sat down in the boat, and taught God's Word from it.
Consider how Peter, when Jesus asked him to let Him make use of his fishing boat, was in the middle of an important job related to his livelihood. It was important for Peter to finish the task of cleaning his nets and making them ready for another fishing expedition the following night. He couldn't let the tools of his trade go to pot! He could have turned Jesus down, believing the job at hand needed to get done now. Yet when Jesus asked permission to use his boat and to take time to sit with Him in the boat till He was finished preaching, Peter consented. His fishing work was important, but he treasured the blessings of the Gospel more, through which his Savior would nourish his soul and strengthen him in faith.
We, like Peter, are faced with many demands on our time. There are tasks that require our attention as relate to our lives in the workaday world. We have secular jobs through which we earn the money that enables us to provide for ourselves and our families. If you're a homeowner, you have chores related to maintenance and upkeep. You wives and mothers have kitchen and laundry duties, meal preparation responsibilities. You children have chores that your Dad and Mom have assigned as well as other sports and recreational activities. All these take up the minutes of our days.
But through the Gospel our Savior reveals to us His saving glory, just as He did to Peter. He shows us the wonders of His love that moved Him to pour out His lifeblood for us, to give His life a ransom, by which our iniquities have been blotted out from God's memory and our transgressions erased from the divine ledger book forever. Through the Gospel Jesus inspires us to love Him above all things and to regard the learning of His Word as more important than any other earthly activity. When God's Word is taught and preached, we love to listen. We take time to listen. We make time to read and study Scripture for the nourishment of our faith and the eternal blessing of our souls.
