Deep water faith

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." (Luke 5:4 NASB)

(This is another passage that I have just seen in a new way. It might be my favorite of all!)

When Jesus sent Simon Peter back to the deep water, it was to do a certain task AND to have a certain result. His task was two-fold. He was to move into deep water and let down the fishing nets. The certain result was to receive the catch. Shallow water is easy, isn't it? There is very little risk there, but very few fish. It's a low risk investment, but also low yield. Deep water is different. It brings risk, not the least of which is capsizing and drowning. Deep water is risky, but oh what a yield is possible there! It's where the fish live. 

What we need to understand is that, when Jesus calls us to "deep water faith", he has the endpoint in sight. He sent Simon to the deep water knowing the fish he would gather in his nets there. In that same way, when He calls us to "deep water faith", He knows the endpoint, the reason for which He is sending us. At any point in his journey into the deep, Simon could have turned back. Even as the nets were being dropped, he could have remembered all the empty casts from the night before, pulled back on the nets, and turned for home. No one would have blamed him. It's likely that no one would have questioned him. After all, he was a professional fisherman and Jesus was not. It took pure faith in Jesus to stay in the boat and on the water. Had he turned back early, however, he would have missed the catch. 

In our own walk of faith, it is easy to remember all our failures, decide that what Jesus asks of us is pointless, and simply move back to "shallow water faith". We could give up our hoping and trusting, but to what benefit? There is no significant gain in the shallows. The blessings and the yield are in the deep water. Perhaps you have had times of uncertainty, doubt, fear. Maybe you feel as if your loved one is "too far gone" and that God can't or won't change them. Take heart. Simon only needed that one more cast to gain the catch of a lifetime, and it was the cast for which Jesus sent him to the water in the first place. Don't give up now. Trust that our heavenly Father knows the endpoint. He knows what He can do, and what He will do. Keep trusting. Keep praying. Keep waiting. 

Pray today for faith to persevere in the deep. Pray too for the cast that yields a harvest too wonderful to believe. Pray that our loved ones will quickly welcome the Savior into their lives and join us in "deep water faith". 

Deep water (Luke 5:4)

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." (Luke 5:4 NASB)

Deep water. 

Simon had already been in deep water, and likely shallow water too, in a vain attempt to catch fish. Jesus didn't care about his previous efforts or his previous casts at depth. Jesus was sending him back. "Head to the deep," He said. Certainly there are more fish in deeper water than in the shallows, but there is something amazing about the deepest water. 

Scientists long believed that the deepest ocean waters were void of life. Without light, no plants could grow, and, it was believed, there would be nothing to support life. In 2009, the Nereus, a research vessel from Woods Institute, made a series of dives to explore the deepest areas it could reach. At more than 10,000 meters below sea level, they found that pressure and darkness are greatest, while the food supply is rich and comes in the form of "marine snow", consisting of organic matter than drifts down from above. (Now that's a nice manna analogy, isn't it?) In the darkness, many of the creatures that live in the depths exhibit phosphorescence. They glow in the darkness. Wow! Pretty amazing! 

Jesus had more than fish in a net on His mind that day. Simon didn't know it yet, but Jesus was inviting him to cast his net into deep water spiritually, as well. Simon would soon experience utter dependence upon provision from above, the battle against the darkness of Hell itself, and the incredible pressure of Christ's mission to bring truth and light to a dark and perishing world. Simon was about to go into deep water with Jesus in more ways than one, and he would be changed forever.  Eventually, he would have a spiritual glow of his own. It is too soon in Luke's gospel to see that now, but we will. 

Jesus was not just inviting Peter into the deep water. His words still resonate today. "Put out into deep water." The deeps are the least explored, but the place of greatest adventure. It's where the fun really begins. Are you willing to move out to the deeps? Are you ready to experience the grand adventure that Jesus longs to share with you?

Today, pray that we and our loved ones will stop holding back. Pray we will boldly go where Jesus leads, even when it is into the deepest water. No more holding back. 

Come on in! The water's really nice out here!