Practical Principals For A Prosperous Perspective

Practical princpals for a prosperous perspective, Luke 5:1-11

Eric A. Snyder, Minister; Farwell Church of Christ

November 25, 2001

A man was watching the news one night when it was reported that a car was going the wrong direction on the freeway. The man knew his wife was on that freeway and became very concerned so called her on her cell phone. She answered and he said, "Dear, there’s one car going in the wrong direction on the freeway." She exclaimed, "One car! There’s hundreds of them!"

Swimming upstream

5:1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men." So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Prayer

Many years ago, a professor from Harvard University was speaking to a class on Columbus Day. He said that there were three profound things about Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America:

First, when he left Spain he didn’t know where he was going.

Second, when he arrived in the New World he didn’t know where he was.

Third, when he returned to Spain he didn’t know where he had been.

1. Listening to Jesus produces results

After a preacher died and went to heaven, he noticed that a New York cabdriver had been given a higher place than he had. "I don’t understand," he complained to St. Peter. "I devoted my entire life to my congregation."

"Our policy is to reward results," explained St. Peter. "Now what happened , Reverend, whenever you gave a sermon?"

The minister admitted that some in the congregation fell asleep. "Exactly, " said St. Peter. "And when people rode in this man’s taxi, they not only stayed awake, they prayed."

Jesus likes results but he measures results differently than you or I do he measures results by your life. Are you growing, are you getting closer, do you trust him more each day. Following Jesus is expensive.

It seems there was a barber in a small local town who had been the only barber in town for years. Everyone went to this barber to get their hair cut. Then, one day a big hair salon franchise came to town and opened up shop. They advertised,

“All Haircuts for $3.00”

Slowly, the barber’s business began to dwindle. He just couldn’t compete. In a last ditch effort to save his business, he hired a business consultant. The consultant spent a day pouring over the barber’s books asking many questions. At the end of the day the barber asked the consultant, “So what do you think ? Should I close up shop ?” The consultant said, “Not yet. I’ll be back tomorrow.” The next day the consultant showed up with a huge banner that he hung in front of the barber shop that said, “We Fix $3.00 Haircuts!”

Some of you have been looking for results in your life and you have gotten a 3 dollar haircut. If you want it done right, give it to Jesus.

Jesus costs a lot more, but you can be certain that he is the only right answer.

Hudson Taylor said, "The real secret of an unsatisfied life lies too often in an unsurrendered will." Halfhearted obedience satisfies neither us, nor God.

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. "If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, ’Let my brother have the first pancake; I can wait."