Sermon for Saturday

And He said unto them, cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. John 21:6

 

 

 

Many commercial fishermen – and many sport fishermen, too – pay substantial money for fish-finding electronic equipment. This gear enables them to find where the fish are, and substantially increases their chances of a good catch. This equipment enables the users to locate any fish that are within range. But no fish-finder ever built is able to match the skill of the One who made the fish and tracks every flip of their fins. We could argue whether Jesus knew where the fish were and told the disciples, or whether He actually directed a school of fish to the fishermen. It doesn’t matter. This account shows that He is sovereign over all creation.

 

This account also shows that the sovereign Lord also desires to bless us. Never in their years of fishing on that lake had the disciples ever encountered such a haul. The 153 fish were far beyond their expectations that day. After a futile night, these lads had their hoppers filled because of their obedience to a simple command from the Lord.

This same blessing is available to us, too. God does not always place complicated commands in front of us. In fact, most of us couldn’t deal with anything complicated. No, His commands are always simple and direct. And He blesses those who obey. Sometimes the blessing is far beyond the proportion of the effort we put in. But make no mistake, God rewards obedience. Whether it be a straightforward command of Scripture, or the guidance of the Word and the Spirit on an issue surrounding us, we are always benefitted by obeying.

In God’s own time,

In God’s own way,

Who does God’s work

Will get God’s pay.

Missing God’s hand of blessing lately? Maybe there is an obedience problem.

 

 

-Jim MacIntosh

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 at 12:01 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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