Luke 5:5 (NIV) 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.”

Simon and his companions had just come back from an unsuccessful fishing trip, having caught nothing. As he was tending to his nets, Jesus took Simon (Peter) by surprise by climbing into his boat when people were crowding around Him to hear Him speak. Then He sat down in the boat and continued to teach the people. After He finished, He turned to Simon and told Him to put out to deep water and to then let down his nets for a catch. That's when Simon spoke up and spoke the words above to Jesus. Going back out to fish was probably the last thing he wanted to do at that moment after having spent all night trying to catch fish with no success. On top of that, the instructions that Jesus gave Simon were all wrong. I'm sure that Simon was thinking that this man surely was not a fisherman because His words went against everything that he knew about fishing in that area. First of all, it was not the right time to fish. Fishing on the Sea of Galilee was best at night and he had just tried that without any success. Secondly, Jesus told him to pull out to deep water, while all fishermen knew that the place to catch fish was near the shoreline. But not wanting to say no to Jesus, Simon obeyed and did what Jesus told him to do. The result was the best catch of fish of Simon's life, to the point that the nets started to break from the weight of all the fish!

Doing what Jesus says is not only the wisest thing to do, but it should be the only thing that you consider doing based on Jesus' track record. You can count on three things whenever Jesus says something. The first is that if He says it, there was a great reason for Him saying it. Second, whatever He says is the absolute, unblemished truth. Third, blessings come from obeying what Jesus has said. Those three things are never in question. I have never obeyed what Jesus says to do and then felt sorry that I did. I have never in my life met anyone who has obeyed the words of Jesus and then was sorry for obeying. Quite the opposite is true. All of my regrets are tied to the times when I didn't follow or obey what Jesus said. After getting myself in trouble and into awful situations from my disobedience, I learned to love to hear and know what Jesus has said and what He is saying presently. I know what He has said through the scriptures and I know what He is saying from my time in prayer. What He is currently saying is not different than what He has already said in His Word, but it's just that through the situations and circumstances of life, He uses His Living Word to speak into your life's happenings in a way that gives you wisdom and direction for dealing with them. That feeling and excitement that Simon had in hauling in fish like he never had before can be yours when you live in obedience to what Jesus says.

Do yourself a huge favor and head into the blessings that Jesus has planned for you by obeying what He has said and continuing to live in obedience at all times with the help of the Holy Spirit, which He sent for that purpose. He, the Holy Spirit, will remind you of what Jesus has said (John 14:26) and then will empower you to be able to follow and obey. Obey and get ready for the blessings that will come your way.

Pastor Joey Vazquez