They Left Their Nets Instruct: Teach, Inform, Give Direction To Impart Knowledge “When he was done speaking to the crowd, He said to Simon Peter, Row out farther into deep water and drop your nets for a catch.” What would you say to this if a strange Rabbi stepped into your environment and asked you to continue working after you had been at the job all night? Peter must have been a little skeptical over the whole situation especially when he replied, “We have worked all night and have caught nothing, but because you said so, I’ll drop the nets.” At this point obedience to a command stepped in and then there was the miracle of revelation through the fish. Oh yeah, refer to Luke 5: 1-11 in all of this if you wish. Let’s work a quick timeline here: First Jesus borrowed Simon’s boat, then He taught the crowd, o.k., so a word to the masses is good, 3rd He said, “Take me fishing…” Now this is where Simon probably had a pretty funny look on his face for this man, this ‘Rabbi’ just passing through. But then there was the miracle of revelation through the fish. By this I mean Jesus only truly revealed Himself after Peter obeyed the command, “Drop the nets.” But what kind of Word did he put in Peters heart that would make him want to follow this instruction? After this, Peter saw the ‘Savior’, the ‘Christ’, the ‘Messiah’ not just a simple Rabbi. What happens next for Peter is an incredible journey because at this point he actually told Jesus, “Lord I’m not worthy to be in your presence.” How many times have we personally experienced this when we say, “Lord, I’m not worthy to be in your presence or stand in your Glory.”? Let’s continue on with this story from Matthew 4:18-22, “Right away they left their nets and immediately they left the boats and their father and followed Him.” “Immediately they followed Him.” This to me in this day and age would sound a little insane or very irresponsible. Think of it this way: You get home from work beat down and tired, the wife waiting for the bacon, your kids running around play fighting with fake swords, and the parents over for dinner, then someone knocks on your door, speaks a word and says, “Follow me”. What would go through your mind? What would we be thinking in that moment in time? Now if we read these scriptures we find that first there was request, then there was a word of knowledge and following this, ‘the miracle of revelation through the fish’. So now we can look at this scenario from a different perspective. Jesus first had to put just a little bit of faith in these fishermen before anything was going to move forward. I mean, look at these hardcore down home dedicated to their work suppliers to their families just up and walk away from everything they had built to follow a man. What did Jesus speak to them while he was in the boat? A Rabbi from out of town was what they saw first, then there was the ‘fish’. O.k., I’m not going to mention the ‘fish’ anymore but what I will bring up is the fact that if these fine gentlemen had no knowledge that he was the Messiah, they probably would have laughed Him right off the shore, throwing rocks at Him the whole time they were running Him out of town. Luke 5:3, “Jesus sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.” In other words Jesus was making it known who he was so the people would start to gain faith through hearing His words. How many times have we experienced people throwing brimstone and fire into the air speaking, “YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW JESUS OR YOU WILL GO TO HELL!!!” It would probably scare the Blankity blank blank outta me. If the person we are speaking to doesn’t have the least bit of a clue who Jesus is, we just might punched in the grill. Here is another one, “Have faith just follow the Lord.” What Lord? Who’s God? Most would blow it off or they might even roll their eyes back a couple times. This is where knowledge comes in handy. I’m not saying that we have to be the brightest streetlight on the block, what I am saying is we have to be able to tell others what Jesus has done for us, who He is, why He came, and how it will finish. This would at least open the door for some curiosity but if the word is not welcomed, “Shake the dust off your feet,” Mark 6:11, and in verse 12 we see, “They went out and proclaimed they should change their hearts and lives. They cast out demons and they anointed with olive oil and healed them.” In every essence they were building people’s faith through giving them knowledge of the word and miracles. How would anyone know what to believe in if they were not getting the correct information? It’s like when Jesus spoke to Peter saying, “I have something for you but I cannot say, let me show you how it will be, then you will ‘know’ Me, cast your nets.” It was just a tiny little command but through Peters ‘obedience’ there was an abundance that had probably never been seen on the shores of Lake Gennesaret ever, then they knew after this moment they had become witnesses. So today we have to show knowledge of our faith to bring someone into God’s Glory so that they too can share and share in the same faith and hope we have found. Isn’t that how we got here in the first place? We need to try to build in them the same curiosity we had that would make them want to search out the Christ with conviction and obedience to His Word. There are times we try to tell people, “Just believe”, but how will this work if we don’t at least put them on the right path or give them a map (The Bible). Remember now, Proverbs 1:5, “The wise hear them and grow in wisdom,” and also, “Those with understanding gain guidance.” What are we speaking into others that would bring their focus and attention to salvation? Are we prepared to answer their questions? We have a responsibility to instruct and instruct correctly. We need to instruct correctly because these are the lost sheep, the ones who don’t know Christ. But if we teach these ‘sheep’ incorrectly and they are not taught conviction and truth, don’t you think this could be dangerous? Look at the church today, and you have your answer… Proverbs 14:5, “A truthful witness does not lie, but a false witness spews lies.” When we speak to someone and say, “Come and follow Jesus,” and there is no ‘divine intervention’ this person just might want to call Bellview, or on the other hand, we find a little hope in a sparkle and they ask, “Who is this Jesus character anyway, and why should I follow Him?” After this we better have the right responses it might be a fairly short conversation, or we could just send someone into the depths of despair. So let’s start taking other peoples salvation seriously here folks because nobody is going to, “Leave their nets,” without first having some knowledge of the plain and simple truth. So at that: Faith through knowledge, wisdom through faith, and wisdom and knowledge, all things hoped for. Because if we start with Luke 24:22-23, “They went to the tomb early this morning and it was empty.” They just might say, Yup! We’ve got a problem with graverobbers too!!! Hallelujah!!! AMEN
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 14:47:35 +0000
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