AP

Luke 5:4-6   When [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”  Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.  But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”  When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

I have a research Masters degree in Concrete Technology, and I think if someone with no background in this field came up to me when I was mixing some concrete for a structure and started to tell me that I needed a bit more sand in the mix, I would suggest to them politely that I didn’t need their advice.  I doubt that I would say, “Because you say so, I will add another shovelful of sand.”

Simon Peter was a hardened fisherman who knew his trade.  But there was something about this carpenter’s son from Nazareth that was very compelling.  It made me reflect on the stance I tend to take when God’s Word instructs me to speak or act in a way that is counter-cultural.  Am I inclined to think that I know better than the all-wise, all-knowing God who has revealed his truth in Scripture?  Am I prepared to adopt an attitude to God’s Word that produces the default response, “Because you say so, I will …”?

With the pressure of constant media propaganda and public opinion, it easy for me to be more influenced by the surrounding culture in which I live than I realise.  Jesus calls me to be ‘salt’ and ‘light’ in a world that is ‘rotting’ and ‘darkening’ at an unprecedented rate and the need to be ‘different’ and to ‘make a difference’ is now perhaps greater than it has ever been.  Am I prepared to be counter-cultural, even if it means being criticised unfairly, misunderstood, laughed at, or even fined or imprisoned?  When the government enacts laws that are directly opposed to what God has laid down clearly in his Word, am I prepared to ‘put out into deep water’ and keep fishing – or, as John reports concerning another occasion, to “throw [my] net on the right side of the boat” (John 21:6)?
– Bruce Christian