Title: Following Jesus
Contents
followed Jesus.
In the Sea of Galilee, Peter, a fisherman with thick bones, tried to catch fish all night, but failed, and Jesus came when he was tidying up.
In this way, the Lord is closest to you when you are most deeply troubled,
The most difficult moment is also when the Lord comes to me.
The most painful place was also the place of meeting with the Lord.
When Jesus came to Peter, he said to him, “Go out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (verse 4).
Peter, who heard the Lord's words, said, "We have toiled all night and have gained nothing, but at your word I will let down my nets."
In this conversation, we see a pattern of the person receiving the blessing.
Hear the word of the Lord and see the amazing work of God that takes place by saying, by the word, I will let down my nets.
Verse 6 Then there were so many fish that the nets were torn.
Peter's confession, relying on the Word, is truly precious faith.
Who knows better about the sea?
Is it Peter, who has thick bones in the sea? Or is it Jesus, the carpenter?
In terms of knowledge and experience, Peter is an expert second to none in the sea.
But when he said that he would let down his nets by the word, he denied all of his experience and his own opinion.
Here, Peter was able to catch a lot of fish so that the nets were torn.
God's hand is revealed when we depend on the Word.
But if the fish had been caught according to his will, would he have obeyed?
He could deny himself because he hadn't caught fish all night.
If so, what message does the empty net give us?
It means "deny you".
It means that you should not live your life according to your experience or your personality, but live according to the word of God, and to deny our ego, stubbornness, and desire.
God allows failure, pain and frustration in order to break our ego, break our pride, and change our desires and direction of life.
But in verse 8 - Peter, who had been blessed, suddenly fell down before Jesus. Why?
He saw the glory of God in this wonderful miracle.
And he found his humble self standing in front of that glory.
What is more important than obeying the word of the Lord and getting lots of meat -
He found himself and the Lord.
A man cannot know me until he knows God.
Who am I and what do I live for? Where do you come from and where are you going? can't be known until you know God.
The moment Peter knew the Lord, he knew himself.
The Lord knows the depths of that sea, knows the movement of that fish, knows the secrets of that universe, and He knows my life, my future, my worries, and my needs.
Like this Peter, we too can receive the mercy of the Lord when the confession, “Leave me, Lord, I am a sinner” bursts out from the depths of our hearts, and He reaches out to us, embraces us, embraces us is to give
And the moment Peter knew Jesus, he left the fish he had caught and lived a life of mission as a disciple of the Lord.
Verse 11b/ They left everything and followed Jesus.
Blessing is the mission.
God blesses us.
However, the blessing is not given to help us eat well and live well, but to make that blessing our mission.
Peter's blessing became a mission.
The Lord comes to those who are in a place of failure and frustration.
He comes and gives the Word and makes the failures and frustrations a blessing to those who obey the Word. And the Lord desires.
May our blessing be a mission to accomplish God's will,
I pray in the name of Jesus that we all become people who turn suffering into blessing and blessing into mission.