The Deep Water

Last weekend we went we had a neighborhood party in which the kids fished and the adults baited hooks...among other things. Kid Two entered the fishing derby and cast his line out no more than 3 times before he became frustrated and quit. (So glad I packed ALL THAT STUFF to carry to the pond! oh well.)

I kept telling him, "Honey, cast it toward the middle of the pond, that's where the bigger, hungrier fish are." Nope. He wanted to stay in the shallow place so he could get one quicker, or so was his perception.

On my sweaty journey back up and down a hill to my house, I thought about Jesus giving fishing advice to his disciples. And when I got home and read it again, I allowed the Holy Spirit to speak to me.

Luke 5:1-11 (and I'll try to make this post as short as possible...)

v. 3 - Jesus gets into the boat and asked Simon to "put out a little from shore" then he began teaching the crowd nearby.

Okay. I'm fine with that.

He stayed close so they could hear him. I'm sure there were people from various stages in their belief of Jesus. Who knows what he said to them? The Bible doesn't say. Maybe it was a message of repentance? or grace? or obedience? We simply don't know. I'm guessing in a big crowd, he kept the message simple and targeted for a wide range of spiritual maturity.

Then, doing what Jesus usually does, he kicks it up a notch.

v. 4 - He tells Simon to "put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." It should have been a clue that Jesus didn't say "let down the nets and just see what happens." He pretty much told them it would be a homerun!

Simon makes no bones about how exhausted he is and implies he doesn't really think it will work. "Jesus, we've been here all night and haven't caught anything."

I'd be thinking, "Look, I'm a bass-pro, Jesus. I know what I'm doing and I'm telling you they just aren't biting today. I'm tired, I'm hungry and any chance I had at catching a net full of fish has been destroyed due to the huge crowd making all this noise and scaring away my profits!" (I'm sure all of you would have much better attitudes than me.)

Either Simon has been around enough to know obedience is pretty important or Jesus gave him one of those looks that silently screamed "DEEP.WATER.NOW!" Maybe it was a hint of both because Simon quickly adds, "But because you say so, I will let down the nets."

You know what happens next - FISH! And loads of them. More than they could bring back to shore on their own! (Hmmm, sounds like a plunderful moment!)

So I'm reading and praying about this passage and the Father reminds me he wants to meet me in the deep water. And he's not just talking about obedience...

As a follower of Christ for a LOT of years, I've spent much time in the shallow waters.

But, I've spent the best times in the deep waters -- where the current is so strong that it overtakes you and you drown in the love of God. I've fished in the deep water of God's truth and experienced blessings so abundant I could hardly believe my eyes.

It's more than cracking open scripture and "landing on something" to read for 15 minutes a day. It requires leaving your comfortable shore with it's gently rolling waves and sandy beaches and rowing out amid sharks and currents, and maybe... maybe, you'll even have to go alone. It's searching the Word and crying out to Him. It's refusing to be satisifed with a minnow when you could have something to mount on the wall.

That's where the big fish are. In the deep water.

When a husband leaves.

When a child dies.

When we simply can't handle being overwhelmed one.more.minute.

Or maybe it's a good season of life but we just want MORE of Him.

The deep water can be scary, but he says there's a catch waiting.

The deep water...that's where we learn to wait patiently for the record size miracle to jump onto our hook. And we reel it in with excitement and afterward know all the waiting and laboring was worth it.

Go deep.

Eph. 3: 17-18 And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.