Leaving The Shallow Waters Behind And Going Out Into The Deep

St. Luke:5:1-11

Topic: Leaving the shallow waters behind, and launching out into the deep

As we embark into the new year of 2009, we must learn to leave the shallow waters behind. That is, we must learn to leave the shallow waters of our past, and be willing to launch out into the deep waters of our future. If we stand to be blessed in the year of 2009, we must be willing to leave the shallow waters of our comfort zone, leave shallow waters of our traditions, leave shallow waters of doing the same old things, and launch out into the deep waters where God has some bountiful blessings in waiting in store for us.

Now in these passages of scriptures of St. Luke 11:1-11, we see Jesus being crowded and pressed upon by a large crowd of people as he is teaching the word of God by a lake called Lake Gennesaret. As he was teaching the crowd by the lake, Jesus sees empty ships nearby the lake that were left empty by some fishermen as they were mending and washing their nets after they had fished all night the night before. And seeing one of the ships that was empty, Jesus steps into one of the boats that belonged to Simon Peter, and He asked him to thrust or sail him out a little further from the land so the large crowd that he was teaching the Word of God to will be able to see and hear Jesus teach from the ship. And the scripture says that once Peter had sailed the boat a little further from the land, it was then that Jesus sat down, and taught the people from the ship

Now notice something here. Notice Jesus tells Peter to thrust or sail him a little further from the land so Jesus Christ could teach the people from the ship without being crowded by a large group of people. Now on the surface, it looks like when Peter had sailed Jesus a little further from the land, it was for the benefit of the people so they could see and hear Jesus Christ teach the word of God from the ship. But when you look deeper into this text, when Peter had sailed Jesus a little further from the land so he could teach the people from the ship, it was for Peter’s benefit because after Jesus had finished teaching the people, Peter received a bountiful blessing like no other before. And that is a lesson for us to learn. When we trust and obey the Lord Jesus Christ, it is not for the Lord’s benefits, but it is for ours. When we worship and praise God, it is not for the Lord’s benefit, but it is for ours. When we serve the Lord, it is not for the Lord’s benefit, but for ours. When we pay our tithes and offering, it is not for the Lord’s benefit, but for ours because He did say in Malachi 3:10 that if you pay your tithes and offering, that He will open up the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that you wont have room enough to receive it.

So when you worship the Lord, when you serve the Lord, it is not for the Lord’s benefit, but it is for your benefit because Jesus could have gotten on the ship and sailed it by himself from the land, but he called Peter to thrust him out little further from the land because, yes, it was for the benefit of the people who was hearing Jesus teach from the ship, but most importantly, Peter was being set up for a bountiful blessing. But notice this. For Peter to receive his bountiful blessing, he had to leave the shallow waters behind, and go out into the deep.

Now, notice if you will, that after Jesus had finished teaching the people, in St. Luke 5:4, “Jesus tells Simon (Peter) to “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught.” Now notice something here. Notice that first Jesus tells Peter to just sailed a little further from the land so he can teach the the large crowd of people from the ship. Then he tells Peter to sail out into the deepper waters and let down his nets for large catch of fish. Now there is a lesson we can learn right here. And the lesson is, sometimes, God will command us to leave a familiar place and go to a place where your blessings is in waiting in store for you because the blessing that awaited Peter was not in the shallow waters, but it was in the deep. Now during that day and time, especially during the morning or the daytime, most fishermen would have fished at the shallow water during that specific day and time. But we see and hear Jesus commandeding Peter to go out into the deep. Sometimes in order for God to bless you, you have to sometimes go against the status quo, go against the opinions of people, go against the traditions of men, and do exactly what God tells you to do in His Word despite what majority is doing and how the circumstance may look like.