Don’t you just love Jesus? You will never meet someone so compassionate and kind. He was always the smartest person in the room, but He never made you feel that way. (Unless you acted like you were, then His quick wit stunned you to silence.) He was always the life of the party, the person everyone wanted to be around. Then He would do some powerful sign, and we would remember that He is not just a nice guy: He is God’s Son.
Peter had a moment like that. He was physically exhausted and frustrated with his job after he “fished all night but caught no fishes.” When Jesus told him to let down the nets again, he wanted a carpenter’s fishing advice about as much as parents want their childless friends’ tips for disciplining kids. Yet, Peter obeyed, and “they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking” (Luke 5:6). Maybe it was the physical and emotional exhaustion of it all, but Peter’s reaction was extreme. Falling at Jesus’ knees, he said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). He was reminded of how holy Jesus is…and convicted by his resistance to trusting Him.
Sometimes that is us. We realize that we do not trust Jesus – we try to do it all on our own. We become convicted about how much of ourselves we invest in other things – realizing we make decisions every day without thinking of Him. We get confronted by how He called us to keep a command, forgive a hurt, or serve His kingdom – and despite everything we know about Him, we resist doing it. Maybe we should just walk away.
Before we do, Jesus speaks: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men” (Luke 5:10). He knows the real issue: we are afraid. Afraid we will never be good enough. Afraid we will make things worse. Yet, Jesus knows who we are. He knows all our shortcomings, and He still has a job for us. Instead of living in fear that we are not good enough, He invites us to live every day knowing that He is – and to invite others to share it. We get to choose: stay guilty and afraid or learn to trust and follow Him?
“And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him” (Luke 5:11). What will we choose?
There are so many reasons to be afraid right now. Because we are with Jesus, we do not have to be. Check out our sermon series “Do Not Be Afraid” to learn more!