Way Beyond

Jesus tells Peter in Luke 5:4, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."
Remember "the deep."

What are we to catch?
Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew 4:19, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."
That tells me we're not out to catch fish in the deep but people for Jesus!

How do we go about this?
Jesus says in Mark 16:15, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."
I don't know about you, but my first thought is that there are a lot of creatures in this world that God made! I've given speeches before and practiced on my dogs so I suppose we could practice on most any creature that will sit still enough to listen, but man is the one who has the intelligence to listen and make a conscious decision or choice in his mind to follow verse sixteen of Mark Chapter 16, which says "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."

To preach is simply to proclaim or put forth (in a sermon or just start talking to someone!), it is to - urge acceptance of or compliance with - and we can all do that! It's simply sharing one's testimony of the Bible and Jesus!

Back to "the deep" - think about it... in Luke 5 Peter, Jesus, and others are at the water's edge. They were out in a boat to catch fish - but not out in the deep water? Why not? Maybe they didn't have much time, maybe they got up late, maybe they didn't feel like rowing out that far, maybe they just thought there would be enough fish up close... maybe... we don't know, but they didn't go out in the deep water!

I don't know about you but when I go to the lake I like to see the bottom when I'm swimming. I like to feel safe seeing the bottom. Often times our wanting to "feel safe" keeps us from going beyond and we are limited to what God has for us "out there!"

Why not "launch out into the deep?" Why not go way beyond the deep? Let's allow God to have His way with us way beyond whatever we want. Let Him have His way with us no matter what He asks of us so that His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven! (Matthew 6:10)