Big Catches, Career Changes and Second Chances

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. (Luke 5:1-11 ESV)

This is an amazing story, not just for the obvious - the great catch of fish and the men leaving everything to follow Jesus, but for even the little things.

It opens with a crowd pushing on Jesus to hear His message so much that He decided to get off shore for some breathing room. Once He was done, He suggested a little fishing trip. Simon was an experienced fisherman and knew what he was talking about when he expressed he doubts about going out again. You can almost hear Simon thinking "Get this guy... he thinks we're gong to catch fish during the day after being out all night. But hey, let's humor him." But what was he thinking as the nets were breaking with all of the fish? Something obviously clicked in Simon's head when he droped to his knees, in a boat-load of fish, and told Jesus to depart from him. I think Simon suddenly realized that he was dealing with something much bigger than he imagined and that Jesus was no ordinary teacher. It was one of those Isaiah-like moments when all you can say is "Whoa is me - I am toast" (okay, so I paraphrase).

Then something astonishing happened: Jesus tells these fishermen to join Him in "catching men"... and they go. They left everything. Remember that these men had families, jobs, homes, friends, all of the things that come with life. Imagine poor old Zebedee, wondering where his sons are going when there was work to be done. What did Simon's wife, or his mother-in-law, think as he walked off with this itinerant teacher? Did you ever wonder, too, if the reason Jesus blessed them with such a big catch of fish was to provide for the families while they went on their mission?

One other thing to remember is that these men were raised in the Jewish custom of teaching the young boys the Hebrew Scriptures until about age 10. At that point they would either be allowed to follow a rabbi who saw potential in the young student or, if they just didn't have what it took to be a rabbi-in-training, they were dismissed from schooling to learn a trade. Simon, James, John and the others there fishing had pretty much flunked out of rabbi school and had resigned themselves to a life among fish. Now this Teacher, this Rabbi, comes along and gives them another chance to live the life every young boy, and his mother, dreams of.

What would our response be if God were to ask us today to leave everything to follow Him? Would we just drop what we were doing and go, leaving family, home, church, job and everything else? Or would we hesitate like others we find in Scrpitures? I struggle with this. I'd love to say that I would not hesitate and march off to what He calls me to, but I just don' know. I have so much that I live for, but, when you boil it all down, there is just one thing that really matters. I want to start living my life focused on and devoted to God so much that I could honestly say, without any doubt, that I would go. I want another chance to live the life God has meant for me, no matter what that means or where that might lead. The only way I can do that, though, is by God's grace and power.