Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 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.”
Luke 5:3–5

As we continue to look at this encounter with Christ found in the first eleven verses of Luke 5, we have already asked, “How do we respond to failure?” (vv. 1–2). Now let us ask, “How do we respond to authority?” (vv. 3–5).

These experienced fishermen had been fishing all night and had caught nothing. No doubt they were exhausted from a long night’s labor and likely frustrated by the lack of results. Then along comes the Lord Jesus—an itinerant teacher, a carpenter by trade (Mark 6:3)—and He turns Peter’s fishing boat into a pulpit.

Bible teacher J. Vernon McGee once said, “Every pulpit is a fishing boat, a place to give out the Word of God and attempt to catch fish.” In this moment, the Lord Jesus does exactly that—using Peter’s boat to teach the multitudes.

But the next instruction may have been difficult for Peter to accept. After He had finished teaching, Jesus told him, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Peter’s response was understandable. He had likely spent most of his life fishing. His experience told him that trying again made no sense. This is why he replied, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing.”

Yet Peter did not stop there. Even though the command went against his experience, his logic, and his exhaustion, he added, “Nevertheless, at Your word I will let down the net.”

Here is a lesson for us: Without the Lord Jesus, we may toil all night and still end up with empty nets (see John 15:5).

But when Peter obeyed, the result was overwhelming. The nets became so full that they began to break, and the boats began to sink under the weight (vv. 6–7).

Anchor For Today:
Listening to the Master’s Word teaches us the Master’s ways. Doing life the Lord’s way leads to full nets, full boats, and full hearts.