Try again………….

“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”  For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”  So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”                 Luke 5:8-11 NIV

Peter was not only sleepy and aching to go home and catch some sleep for a catch-less night; Jesus instructed Peter to go and put out his boat into the deep and again lower the nets to catch a haul!

If you were Peter, what would you do?

Peter’s answer would probably be our response as well.

"Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing..."

HAVE YOU FELT THAT WAY TOO?  So have I. Probably all of us have at one time or another.  At times it seems we don’t have much to show for all the efforts we have invested.  We still come up short. 

But Peter’s words did not end there...
"...but on the ground of Your word, I would lower the nets again."

Wow! These are rhema words! Words of life! Words of confidence and obedience and of submission!

For me: Jesus’ words echoed in the hearts of Peter and into my spirit right now, that our Master is saying…."Keep trying, keep believing and hoping in Me, as I have spoken in the past I am He speaking to you now!"

God wants you to try once more.  Launch out into the deep. Let go of your nets.

And so it happened.  When he lowered his nets in defiance of his own experience of the sea and OBEYED, a great catch was enclosed and the second boat was needed to bring the once elusive fish ashore.

 I can sense in my spirit that when Jesus spoke the words "lower the nets for a catch..." the fish were so restless and so excited as they heard the words of their Creator tingling in their ears that their time to be used by the Master, their moment of bringing the glory back to God for their existence is now at hand!  I am sure that each one of the fish is trying to outdo one another in jumping from the sea to the nets.

Before the boat could make it back to shore, Peter had a life-changing experience.

Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!"

Why would Peter talk that way to Jesus?

Peter was struck by the Almighty presence of Jesus and the sinfulness of himself.

The miracle accomplished its goal for the disciples, but not so with Jesus... The purpose was greater than the catch of fish, JESUS HAD CAPTURED THE DEEPEST RECESSESS OF PETER’S HEART AND THE DISCIPLES!

“Do not fear, from now on, you will be catching men."  Zogreo was the Greek word for catch used by the writer of this text which means; “to take alive and is used of captives taken alive.” 

Jesus wants to convey to His listeners these words..."you zogreo them, I will clean them.  Just as I have zogreo your heart, I will do them also!"

When the boat made it back to the shore, the disciples left everything and followed Jesus.  They left "everything", including the miraculous catch of fish. They finally understood that fish were no longer important for living but catching men for Jesus was now their reason for living!

What happens in the deeper water?  It is scary and it is more unstable, at least more unfamiliar.  But it is also where there are more fish.  Fishermen never catch many fish from the shore; they have to go out into the deep water to catch larger fish and more fish.

Likewise, Jesus wants to take you from your comfortable shoreline to a deeper place where you will find more food for your soul and more dependence on Him.

The journey to the deeper water is always to help us to know God better.

Jesus is calling us today the same way that He communicated with His disciples to move a little further from the land. From our old life, old ideas, our treasured possessions in exchange for a new deep and exciting life of following Him.

Let Him capture your heart.
Let us launch out into the deep and catch our miracles.

The Master is issuing the same call to you and me today.  Let’s get back out there to the deep waters once more.

ONE MORE TIME!  EVEN THOUGH WE MAY APPEAR TO HAVE FAILED.

Try again. 

Risk again!