“What do fishing instructions have to do with an abundant life?”
I love the moment when Jesus calls his first disciples. The Gospel of Luke tells us that Simon, James, and John were fishing one night and they caught nothing. And so they’re tired and they’re frustrated and then Jesus comes along and he tells them to go to the deep waters and drop their nets. And you gotta think that there was just a little bit of annoyance in Simon’s voice when he responds to Jesus instructions. I bet what Simon really wanted to say was, “First off Jesus, why don’t you let the fishermen do their job and you do yours. We’re not telling you how to Rabbi out here, so why are telling us how to fish? And Number 2, we’ve been fishing all night and so I’m pretty sure that we thought to look out there at some point over the past 12 hours.” But, to his credit, Simon didn’t get that sassy. But he did say this, “if you say so Jesus…” You can almost hear the disdain in those words. If you say so….
And you know what happens next, they catch some fish. So many fish, in fact, that their nets start to rip. They catch so many fish that their boats start to sink. They catch so many fish that they must have been thinking “we are going to be so stinking rich!”
Because fish were their business. Fish were their income. If they caught a literal boat-load of fish than that means that they just hauled in a literal boat-load of money.
BUT!... that’s not what abundance looks like.
You see the real miracle here isn’t the boat-load of fish. The miracle is what happens in the hearts of Simon and James and John.
I know that abundance isn’t about getting lots of money because as soon as these fishermen dragged their overflowing boat to shore they leave it all on the beach and follow Jesus instead.
They don’t quickly sell all the fish and pocket the cash. They don’t invest the fish in a diverse stock portfolio so that they can live off the dividends. They don’t even bet all the fish on over and parlay that with the under in the night game! They leave the fish in the boat on the beach and follow Jesus instead.
Because that is what abundance looks like. We have gotten into the bad habit of assuming that abundance is about money and possessions and wealth but when Jesus talks about abundance, he’s talking about an abundant way of life.
I love the moment when Jesus calls his first disciples. The Gospel of Luke tells us that Simon, James, and John were fishing one night and they caught nothing. And so they’re tired and they’re frustrated and then Jesus comes along and he tells them to go to the deep waters and drop their nets. And you gotta think that there was just a little bit of annoyance in Simon’s voice when he responds to Jesus instructions. I bet what Simon really wanted to say was, “First off Jesus, why don’t you let the fishermen do their job and you do yours. We’re not telling you how to Rabbi out here, so why are telling us how to fish? And Number 2, we’ve been fishing all night and so I’m pretty sure that we thought to look out there at some point over the past 12 hours.” But, to his credit, Simon didn’t get that sassy. But he did say this, “if you say so Jesus…” You can almost hear the disdain in those words. If you say so….
And you know what happens next, they catch some fish. So many fish, in fact, that their nets start to rip. They catch so many fish that their boats start to sink. They catch so many fish that they must have been thinking “we are going to be so stinking rich!”
Because fish were their business. Fish were their income. If they caught a literal boat-load of fish than that means that they just hauled in a literal boat-load of money.
BUT!... that’s not what abundance looks like.
You see the real miracle here isn’t the boat-load of fish. The miracle is what happens in the hearts of Simon and James and John.
I know that abundance isn’t about getting lots of money because as soon as these fishermen dragged their overflowing boat to shore they leave it all on the beach and follow Jesus instead.
They don’t quickly sell all the fish and pocket the cash. They don’t invest the fish in a diverse stock portfolio so that they can live off the dividends. They don’t even bet all the fish on over and parlay that with the under in the night game! They leave the fish in the boat on the beach and follow Jesus instead.
Because that is what abundance looks like. We have gotten into the bad habit of assuming that abundance is about money and possessions and wealth but when Jesus talks about abundance, he’s talking about an abundant way of life.
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