Good morning, Lord Jesus. My Lord and Savior, be Lord of my life and every moment of my day.
"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, 'Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if You say so, I will let down the nets.' When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.... Then Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.' When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed Him" (Luke 5:4-11).
It takes some effort to "put out into deep water." You don't get there by accident and it's never easy -- especially when you're like Peter was, tired or discouraged or disappointed. When you're tired and weary from the “grind” of ministry and life, exhaustion of fruitfulness and lack of success, it's hard to say, "Let's do it again! Let's go deeper still! Let's go further than last time and beyond our expectations!"
But to "put out into (the) deep water" of Your Spirit, is to seek to hear Your voice, to call You "Master," and obey the nudges of Your guidance in trusting faith, no matter the circumstances of how bleak things appear at the moment. We need not be afraid. And we need not hold back, because there is always an abundance that follows obedience. Peter obeyed Jesus' nudge, and his obedience resulted in abundance.
Part of living life in the "deep water" is being willing to not always see the abundance that follows obedience at the time. So often, we have to "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). If we insisted on only believing what we see and trusting only what we feel and always playing it safe to never take a risk on our sense of Your leading in the still, small voice we'd never get past the shallow water. And we'd never know the abundant treasures that wait for us in the deep water. Lack of obedience always results lack of abundance.
You've prepared a treasure of abundance for us in the "deep water" of Your Spirit. There's a great catch if we're just willing to be caught up in the arms of Your embrace to live in trusting faith. That's the place where "Eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him ... God has reveled them to us through His Spirit ... yes, the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). That's the place where we hear and respond to Your Word: "Call to Me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known" (Jeremiah 33:3).
So when "Deep calls to deep," we can either respond and put out to the deep water -- no matter how tired we are or how the circumstances appear -- or we can just settle for what we have and just stay where we are, content to live out our lives in the shallow water (Psalm 42:7). It's safer in the shallow water for sure. We have a lot more control when the water is only up to our ankles instead of over our heads (Ezekiel 47:3-5). But my, what great treasures we would miss! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray this morning as you begin a new week you take time to position your spirit to hear the Master call and sense the nudging of His Holy Spirit to put out into the deep waters of all He has for you and desires to do through you. There is an abundance God has created you to bring forth but it will only come about by your obedience, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
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