They left everything

Luke 5:1-11 NASB

Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets." When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!" For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men." When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.


My thoughts -

Jesus provided Simon Peter with the biggest catch of his lifetime. They had worked all night and caught nothing. They must have been frustrated. Maybe even a little desperate. And here comes this guy, and he says "Hey, why don't you drop your nets over there."

Simon Peter replies with something like, "Sure, buddy. We're professionals. We've been at this all night. We know what we're doing. There's nothing out here to catch." But then, figuring it couldn't hurt anything he does what Jesus said. And there it is. A catch too big to haul in.

Simon Peter must have realized that there was something really different about this Jesus fellow. He stayed ahead of the game that way, as he was later the first of the disciples to figure out who Jesus really was. But here Simon Peter couldn't have known Jesus was the Messiah, but he knew there was something special about him. Look at how he responds to Jesus:

But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!"

Jesus didn't go away, though. At least not yet. Instead he invited Simon Peter and his companions to follow him. And Simon Peter, James, and John left everything and did just that.

They walked away from a big payday. They left behind a thriving business. They left behind everything and followed Jesus. And Jesus asks us to do the same. Can we?

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