Day 44 – At Your Word

“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.” Luke 4-5

Imagine working all night, physically casting nets just to be rewarded with no catch. Tired and despondent are words very befitting of how the fishermen felt by the time Jesus came to the shore where they were cleaning nets. After Jesus’ teaching, he told Simon to push the boat out a little further and to cast out their nets. Simon’s protest is nothing new to our ears, right? Sometimes our response to the Lord echoes Simon’s more than we would like to admit.

When Simon answered Jesus with 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳, it wasn’t just a formal response of respect. The Greek is 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦̄𝘴 and means “appointed over, commander, and teacher”. Simon showed submission and willingness to follow Jesus’ instruction even if his mouth said something different. However, his mouth quickly followed his heart, and he made a beautiful statement of faith: “nevertheless at Your word I will”.

Simon’s livelihood was fishing, and the fish species caught in the Lake of Galilee are mainly Tilapia. A fresh, warm-water fish only caught at night. Simon did what Jesus asked because he believed, not because the circumstances seemed right or that it would help his business. And after hauling in the biggest catch in his business career, he left everything to follow Jesus, because “at Your word.” Do we have that measure of faith? To give up what we know to venture into the unknown?

In the culture of that time, students chose the Rabbis who they wanted to be mentored by, but Jesus chose His followers – with no “religious” or formal training to teach the truth of God’s Kingdom. Jesus chose people just like you and me.

Pray with me: Father, “at Your word” is such a powerful faith statement. Help me, Lord, to be obedient when You speak. At Your Word I will do what You ask. At Your Word, I will do my best. Amen. ©

Love, Pastor Iriza