Obedience

“One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore.

Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

When he 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. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

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 5:1-11

In this short passage we find Jesus calling his first disciples. But it also reveals three things about obedience that we can apply to our own lives. Let me tell you what they are:

1. Obedience catches the fish. There would be no “catch” of verse six without the obedience, “…because you say so…” found in verse 5. Peter had to respond in obedience before he saw the results. Sometimes we want to respond only at the guarantee of results not in faithful obedience.
2. Obedience maximizes the catch. Read verses 6 and 7 again. God doesn’t just “do things”. He does all things well. He gives to us abundantly. When our purposes are tied to His kingdom purposes through obedience we will see everything we put our hands to blessed in abundant ways. If we don’t see abundance we should ask the questions: “Am I doing what God asked me to do?” “Am I being obedient?”
3. Obedience re-orders our priorities in life. Verse 11 says: “So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.” Notice they were leaving their “profession”, not at its lowest point but at the biggest catch of their careers. They were walking away from it all to follow Jesus. We don’t even find that they followed after “cashing in their catch”. It says they “…left everything…”. Sometimes obedience requires you to leave the good to pursue the best.