I have no doubt that the “Jonah & Sons” fishing company was one of, if not the premiere fishing enterprise on the Sea of Galilee.

Scripture makes it sound as if they had additional partners, at least they did until Jesus came by in Mark 1:16-18.

Several times in Scripture we are warned about trusting in our own abilities, or our own understanding. Solomon warned his son, three times in Proverbs about not putting your trust in yourself. (Proverbs 3:5-6; Proverbs 14:12; and Proverbs 16:25)

An observation I have made is that it is not a challenge for most of us to trust God for things we know little about or for things we have no abilities or prior experience in. But when it comes to things we have been “trained” in, or the things we have spent our lives doing, I have observed that often we jump in and rely upon our own devices rather than put our trust in God and follow His directives.

In first 8 verses of Luke 5, Peter, the fisherman, has a moment with Jesus, the Messiah, that was defining.

Peter had been fishing all night only to come up empty handed. After Jesus had completed his time of teaching from the boat, He tells Peter to cast out a little further from the shore and throw his nets in. Peter’s answer is a bit condescending to Jesus. He lets Jesus know they had already been fishing all night. After all, Peter was the professional fisherman, Jesus was a carpenter (stone mason). But, since you said so, here goes.

Read the results. Use your imagination about what happens when a fisherman listens to the Creator of the sea and the fish! The results speak for themselves.

Peter, the fisherman, the Apostle and follower of God learned a great lesson. It always pays to listen to what God says. (By the way, in the way of thinking of biblical times, listening and obeying were the same thing.)

As someone who has been around the block a couple of times, seen a lot, been privileged to do a lot, I am of the opinion I need to put my trust in the Creator now more than ever. I have no desire to simply repeat my experiences, even the good ones. This is a new day, a new time, we have never been this way before and God is wanting to do a new thing. So, we need to let go of the old. Listen to the words of the Creator.

I think Peter, the fisherman, the Apostle, and the follower of God would agree!

Always in Pursuit!

Don

In a previous article, I mentioned how Peter came to faith based upon his brother, Andrews’ conviction that they had found the Messiah.

I can only imagine the many conversations they had about the coming of the Messiah as they were sailing on the Sea of Galilee, hauling in their nets, and then mending their nets in preparation for the next day’s work. I am sure they both shared their dreams about life with Messiah.

I know enough about Messianic expectations among the Jews that many had their own opinions of what Messiah would be. Some thought He might be a mighty warrior. Some thought he would be a great politician. Some believed he might be a combination of warrior and politician. I doubt that too many, if any, thought he would come as a baby in a manger, learn how to be a carpenter, then suffer crucifixion.

Many of us came to faith because of our parents, or grandparents. Some may have come to faith because of a sibling or close friend. We believe because they said to believe. But at some point, we need to own our belief. We need to know what and why we believe. He faith of our parents or grandparents will not sustain us. Andrew’s faith was not sufficient for Peter’s trial and tribulations later in life.

Peter found his own faith at some point. There was a time in John 6 when many who had followed Jesus, turned away from Him. Jesus asked the twelve if they wanted to leave too. Peter speaks up and says, “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One (Messiah) of God.”

The capstone of Peter’s profession though is when Jesus asked the disciples about what they were hearing about who He was. Then He turned the tables on them and ask, “Who do you say I am?”

I can only imagine that Peter did not hesitate one nanosecond. He responded by saying, “You are the Messiah. The Son of the Living God.”

I cannot say for sure what it was that caused Peter to be so confident with his answer. Perhaps it was his experience in the boat with Jesus as recorded in Luke 5. Perhaps it was a miracle or two or perhaps it was a private conversation with Jesus. Whatever it was, Peter came to faith.

How about you? Are you living off someone else’s faith? A parent, grandparent, spouse, pastor? Jesus is asking you that same question he asked the twelve. Who do you say I am?

Always in Pursuit!

Don

These were the first words Andrew said to his brother, Simon, after he had encountered Jesus.

I have been intrigued with these words or perhaps better yet, I have been intrigued with the relationship between Simon and Andrew.

Nothing indicates whether Andrew was older or younger than Simon. But from Simon’s immediate reaction to Andrew’s words, he must have had a great deal of confidence in his sibling. After all, they were in business together, sailed the Sea of Galilee together and presumably shared a great faith in God thanks to their father, Jonah. Simon’s faith in Jesus as the Messiah was initially based upon Andrews’ faith in Jesus as the Messiah.

Andrews’ faith in Jesus as the Messiah was based upon John the Baptizer’s faith in Jesus as the Messiah. But there must have been something, early on, that caused Andrew to leave John the Baptizer and become convinced that Jesus truly was the Messiah.

But Simon also left everything, as Andrew had done, to follow Jesus.

At some point, Simon started believing in Jesus as the Messiah on his own, rather than basing his belief upon Andrew’s faith. But isn’t that how it works?

I came to faith via the faith of my parents and grandparents. But at some point, it became my faith. Their influence was stimulus used by the Holy Spirit to get me started but their faith would not be enough to sustain me.

I have often wondered about this influence thing. Who would drop what they are doing, follow Christ, based upon my words or my life?

If the answer is “0” then I need to ask, “What needs to change in my life?” How about you? Who are you influencing to follow Jesus?

Three Scriptures:

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth.”

Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world.”

Esther 4:14 “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

Always in Pursuit!

Don