Blind Faith!

 In Luke 5:4 Jesus is telling Simon (Peter) “Put into deep water and let down the net for a catch.”

Jesus is talking to Peter in the context of catching fish i.e. go into deep water, away from the surface , let down your net and you will end up catching fish

      Now,I feel, this verse has a very deep meaning in itself for us. 'Go deep... for a catch' i.e. we should go deep , dive deep into the Word inorder  to Completely understand what God is trying to speak to us through his Word .We can’t just float on the surface and search for something deep and meaningful. We should be willing to not just read but meditate and study His word and seek His help. We should be ready to take our boats and go deep with Him, letting down our guard, our pride, our shields and being vulnerable and honest about our emotions with God and telling Him how exactly we feel and asking God to intervene!  We have to dive deep!

      Another noticeable phrase for me was how Simon (Peter) is saying in v5 “…Because you say so, I will let down the net”….i.e. I will do it, no questions asked!  Peter must have, of course heard about Jesus, the Teacher because he is addressing him as Master (NIV) and also, he didn’t object or show any discomfort when Jesus decided to get into his boat and teach. Peter was willing to do what Jesus told him to do inspite of working hard all night(v5). He mentioned about the working “hard all-night” part to Jesus with maybe an intention to tell him that I and my companions are physically tired and drained from putting the net out into the water against the waves with no prominent light source at night, frustrated that we didn’t catch any fish inspite of trying again and again all-night, exhausted, hungry,  irritated and just very sleepy! Imagine working all-night long with absolutely no result! Catching fish needs physical strength and alertness and also they had already washed their nets too.

     But instead of using any of these as excuses Peter said…. ‘ because you said so'....I will go forward with your word and just do as you say. And when they did(v7), they caught way too many fish to the point that their nets began to break and their boats began to sink ; Not just full but in abundance(v7). God gives in abundance (same is seen in Matthew 14:13-21 , John 6:1-14 where Jesus feeds the 5000 and 12 baskets with leftovers were collected) but we should be willing to go deep with Him and then obey Him when he tells us to do something with no if’s and but’s from our part. Many times our practicality seeps in, our thinking and reasoning seeps in. We rely on our decisions and tend to grow impatient with God. Though we may be physically and emotionally drained and tired with no strength to move but if we choose to rely just on Him with complete blind faith just like Peter is seen doing here, we will receive in abundance!