Offer what you have to God and you can see God’s blessings.
• Simon offered what he has to Jesus; Jesus in return gave him what He can give.
• He offered a fishing boat to preach on. Jesus gave him boats filled with fishes.
• Jesus rewards him, and bless him with what he really wants – fishes!
Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee) and He saw two boats by the lake.
• One of them belonged to Simon Peter.
• Jesus borrowed Simon’s boat so that He could teach the crowd who had come to hear the Word of God.
After Jesus finished preaching, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” (Luke 5:4)
• By offering his boat, the Lord was able to bless many who had come to hear the Word. Now Jesus wants to bless Simon.
• This is the principle we see in the Scriptures: God does not short-change us. When we offer what we have to Him – our wealth, our possession, our talents - God will bless us in return.
Jesus asked him to launch out into the deep, and let down the nets (in plural).
• He wants to bless Simon with what he longs for – fishermen want fishes.
• Notice Simon’s answer: “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” (Luke 5:5)
• Peter let down only ONE net.
Why did Jesus tell Simon to let down more than one net?
• The answer is found in verses 6–7: “And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.”
• Jesus was ready to bless Simon with more than he could ever think of, but Simon limited the catch by only letting down one net.
• Eph 3:20 says He “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…”
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What does that tell you about God?
• It tells us that He does not operate the human way - by the law of supply and demand.
• God works by the principle of His inexhaustible supply.
• How much does God have? That’s how much He can bless us with.
It takes faith to trust Jesus’ advice.
• Simon was a seasoned fisherman. He knows his trade, unlike Jesus, who is a carpenter by trade.
• It was known that in the Sea of Galilee, you catch fish at night in the shallow water.
• When you fish with fishing nets, you don’t normally go to deep waters. And you don’t do it in the day time.
Despite all the good human reasoning, Jesus asked Simon to let down the nets. Even though they had caught nothing the whole night.
• How then did it attract all the fish and become a “fish magnet”?
• Why was there this sudden change?
The answer is very simple: It was because Jesus stepped into that boat.
• All Simon did was to lend Jesus his boat so that He could preach to the crowd that was hungry for the Word.
• Simon gave Jesus what was natural — a fishing boat that had not caught a single fish all night — and Jesus blessed him in a supernatural way!
This is an important principle for us to learn – when we offer God what we have, God will bless us abundantly, more than we ask or think.
There was another occasion when the crowd had a need – they needed food (Luke 9:12-16).
• It was late in the afternoon and they were at a remote place, the disciples asked Jesus to dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging.
• And Jesus reply was - "You give them something to eat." (9:13)
They had similar problem like Simon (all night, no fish).
• Theirs was: “Too many people, no food.”
• And then a boy gave to Jesus 5 loaves and 2 fishes – that which was natural.
• And Jesus made it supernatural – >5000 were fed, with 12 baskets of leftover.
• When God blesses us, it is often "more-than-enough".
2 Cor 9:6 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
The Lord’s presence makes all the difference in your life.
J. L. Kraft, head of the Kraft Cheese Corporation, who had given approximately 25% of his enormous income to Christian causes for many years, said, "The only investment I ever made which has paid consistently increasing dividends is the money I have given to the Lord." (W.A. Criswell, A Guidebook for Pastors, p. 154.)
This incident shows us God is a practical God.
• When He wanted to bless a group of fishermen, He blessed them practically – He gave them fish, lots of it.
• When He wanted to bless the hungry crowd, He blessed them practically – with a more-than-enough meal, with leftover.
That is how God blesses His children today. He blesses us abundantly.
• When we sow, we shall reap a hundred, sixty or thirty times what is sown (Matt 13:8)
• When we tithe, He will “throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessings that you will not have room enough for it.” (Mal 3:10)
All it takes is for us to put whatever is natural in His hands and God can bless it in a supernatural way.
• Whatever you put in God’s hands will not remain the same — it will be multiplied when He returns it to you.
In the late 17th Century, German preacher August H. Francke founded an orphanage to care for the homeless children of Halle.
One day when Francke desperately needed funds to carry on his work, a destitute Christian widow came to his door begging for a ducat - a gold coin. Because of his financial situation, he politely but regretfully told her he couldn’t help her. Disheartened, the woman began to weep and left.
Francke went to his room to pray. After seeking God, he felt that the Holy Spirit wanted him to change his mind. So, trusting the Lord to meet his own needs, he called her back and gave her the money.
Two mornings later, he received a letter of thanks from the widow. She explained that because of his generosity she had asked the Lord to shower the orphanage with gifts.
That same day Francke received 12 ducats from a wealthy lady and 2 more from a friend in Sweden. God had blessed him and he thought he had been amply rewarded for helping the widow, but he was soon informed that the orphanage was to receive 500 gold pieces from the estate of Prince Lodewyk Van Wurtenburg. When he heard this, Francke wept in gratitude.
In sacrificially providing for that needy widow, he had been enriched, not impoverished.
When we offer our wealth, talents, possessions – what we have – to the Lord, He will rewards us and pour out His blessings in an abundant way.
• He can take what is natural and turn it into something supernatural.
• God has ways of taking our gifts and turning them into miracles.
But it takes faith to lower down the net again, when you have already tried all night.
• It takes faith to turn over your loaves of bread and the fish.
• It may be a simple act, but it is an act of faith. The Lord shall reward you richly.
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And the amazing part about this incident in at the end.
• After the fishermen got this huge catch of fish to shore, these traders were willing to let go of this potentially huge profit, and follow Jesus.
• It’s easy to follow Jesus when you have nothing. But now that they can be rich, to let go of all these and follow Jesus isn’t an easy thing to do.
They did it because they saw the SOURCE of their blessing.
• Their eyes were not on the blessings but ‘Blesser’ – looking at the One who bless.
• We must all come to this point in life - when we look beyond the gifts and appreciate the Giver; when our concern is not just about blessings in life but the One who blesses us.
• We need to be more concern about the One who blesses us – to know His heart for the lost, to know His heart for the church.
Jesus said to Simon in 5:10 “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”
• That’s Jesus’ ultimate concern, and that will be Simon’s concern.
• Not to get fish, but to save the souls of men.
I saw a writing entitled WE SEE JESUS’ CONCERNS:
We are concerned about fish to eat; Jesus is concerned about salvation of souls.
We are concerned with selling the fish and earning money to pay bills; Jesus is concerned with paying the penalty of our sins - death on the cross.
We are concerned about our own life; Jesus is concerned about those who don’t yet know Him.
We are concerned about life here on earth; Jesus is concerned about our eternal life with God.
When we have an encounter with Jesus, He wants us to be more concerned about spiritual things, and be mindful to things above.
• God will take doctors and make them also healers of souls, like he did with Luke.
• He will take lawyers and make them judges of truth, like he did with the Apostle Paul.
• He will take shepherds and make them shepherds of people, like he did with David.
• He will take builders and make them builders of nations, like he did with Solomon.
• He will take students and make them students of his word, like he did with Daniel.
• He will take administrators and make them administrators of His grace, like Joseph in the OT.
What can you offer God? Offer it to Him and see Him transforming it into a greater blessing.
Invest it in God’s Kingdom. It will bring greater blessing to more people.
WILL YOU GIVE THE BEST TO YOUR KING?
There is a legend about an ancient village in Spain. The villagers learned that the king would pay a visit! In a thousand years, a king had never come to that village.
Excitement grew! "We must throw a big celebration," The villagers all agreed. But, it was a poor village, and there weren’t many resources. Someone came up with a classic idea. Since many of the villagers made their own wines, the idea was for everyone in the village bring a large cup of their choice wine to the town square, “We’ll pour it into a large vat and offer it to the king for his pleasure! When the king draws wine to drink, it will be the very best he’s ever tasted!”
The day before the king’s arrival, hundreds of people lined up to make their offering to the honoured guest. They climbed a small stairway, and poured their gift through a small opening at the top.
Finally, the vat was full! The King arrived, was escorted to the square, given a silver cup and was told to draw some wine, which represented the best the villagers had. He placed the cup under the spigot, turned the handle, and then drank the wine, but it was nothing more than water.
You see every villager reasoned, "I’ll withhold my best wine and substitute water, what with so many cups of wine in the vat, the king will never know the difference!" The problem was, everyone thought the same thing, and the king was greatly dishonoured.
People usually think this way: “Let someone else give their best.” Let us seek to be blessed. Let us honour our King, the Lord Jesus Christ and offer Him our best. Do it now.
