Luke 5:4-9 (NKJV) When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” 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. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken.
The Lord can make a way in the wilderness and a path in the desert, but we need to act on what He has spoken to us through the prayer of consecration, and it takes faith to follow the path but the wonderful thing is we have the Holy Spirit to be our guide and helper.
In the above passage, Peter and his fellow fishermen had toiled all night but caught nothing, and were ready to call it quits. Peter could have two reactions when he heard the Lord’s instruction to launch into the deep, either to continue to stay on shore or follow the Lord’s instruction. He could have rejected the instruction and been offended by the suggestion, but he would have missed the miraculous catch of fish if he had either taken time to rationalise or reacted in his flesh against the idea.
Nonetheless, when Jesus told them to launch out into the deep and let down their nets, Peter chose to obey. By saying that “nevertheless at your word I will let down the net”, he acknowledged Jesus as Master and obeyed even though the instruction did not seem logical or professional. He acted on what he heard and obeyed the instruction, and they had such a huge catch that the boat began to sink under the weight of the fish! Peter knew that it was supernatural and repented of his ways.
What have you heard from the Lord? Are you willing to step out in faith to trust His leading? The safest and easiest place is to be in the will of God for our lives. God will carry the load if we are walking in His will, and it will be easier for us to exercise our faith in Him when we know we are walking in His will. We will have verses of Scriptures given to us to anchor our faith in Him if we had taken time to seek His face and His will for our lives, and it is much easier to be walking with the backing of the Almighty God than walking alone and having to face the consequences of the wrong choices that we make in our lives.
Sermon Series: It’s January 1st, 2023!
听神的声音而行
路加福音5:4-9讲完了，对西门说：「把船开到水深之处，下网打鱼。」 西门说：「夫子，我们整夜劳力，并没有打着什么。但依从你的话，我就下网。」 他们下了网，就圈住许多鱼，网险些裂开， 便招呼那只船上的同伴来帮助。他们就来，把鱼装满了了两只船，甚至船要沉下去。 西门彼得看见, 就俯伏在耶稣膝前，说：「主啊，离开我，我是个罪人！」 他和一切同在的人都惊讶这一网所打的鱼。
主能在旷野开道，在沙漠开路，但我们要将主藉着分别为圣的祷告吩咐我们去做的事付诸行动，并且行在这条路上需要信心，但美妙的是，我们有圣灵作为我们的向导和帮助者。
在上面的经文中，彼得和他的渔夫伙伴们整夜劳苦却一无所获，已经准备放弃了。当彼得听到主的指示要他们把船驶到水深之处时，他可以有两种反应，要么继续留在岸上，要么遵循主的指示。他本可以拒绝这个指示并因为这个建议而感到被冒犯，但如果他花时间来理性思考或凭借他的肉体反对这个想法的话，他就会错过这个奇迹般的渔获。
然而，当耶稣告诉他们要将船驶到深处并撒网时，彼得选择了顺服。他说：“但依从你的话，我就下网” ，他承认耶稣是主，并且顺服了这个似乎并不合逻辑或缺乏专业性的指示。他按照所听到的去行动并按着指示而行，因此他们捕到了如此丰富的渔获，以至于船因为鱼的重量实在太大而开始下沉！彼得知道这是超自然的，并且忏悔了自己的行为。
你从主那里听到了什么？你愿意勇敢地迈出信心的一步来信靠祂的引导么？最安全、最轻松的地方是留在神对我们生命的旨意中。如果我们行在祂的旨意中，神会帮助我们承担重负，当我们知道自己行在祂的旨意中时，我们更容易操练我们对祂的信心。如果我们花时间寻求祂的面和祂对我们生命的旨意，祂会给我们一些经文，以便我们用这些经文来锚定我们对祂的信心。与其形单影只地面对生命中因错误选择而产生的后果，不如在全能真神的支持下前行，这要轻省容易得多。
讲章系列： 2023年1月1日！