“Don’t be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” Luke 5:10
As noted previously, this is a simple site based on a simple faith, mine. Spending time in God’s word during Advent is great way to prepare ourselves for His coming! Yesterday I wrote about a simple way to begin reading and meditating on a Bible verse. Today I am sharing my own meditation on Luke, chapter five, verses one through eleven. I begin with my prayer: Through your most Holy Word, Lord, I invite you into my heart. Transform me according to your will. I read through the passage slowly, knowing every single word is important to the message. I envision myself there; one listening to the conversation between Simon Peter and Jesus. Watching Jesus teach offshore from the boat, I notice how soft spoken He is, how the crowd is qsilent, how they lean forward to hear every word this man has to say about them and how they live. When He asks Simon Peter to recast his nets after a long fruitless night of doing so, the first thing I hear is ‘BUT’. Ah, I blush, for this would be my exact reaction. I would explain, make excuses. As Simon, I too would obey … but first I would say, “Jesus, I just want you to know I already tried that!” (As if He didn’t already know!) Then I would obey, with doubt, just like Simon Peter.
As I continue to read, I realize that Simon’s obedience was an act of faith, of trust in Our Lord, even in the midst of doubt. And then it comes, the blessing, the overflowing bountiful catch, the miracle. Jesus always rewards trust with blessing. Simon Peter’s reaction after receiving such a gift is to immediately feel unworthy, guilty. He humbles himself before Jesus to the point of begging Him to stay away. He feels he is too unworthy for Jesus to even be seen with. What does Jesus do? As always, when we humble ourselves before Him, He forgives in Love. We become His beloved, and there is so much Love we cannot help but follow Him. Now He uses us. Yes, with all of our buts, doubts, unworthiness, and guilt, He uses us. We are transformed by His blessing and we are called to follow. Just as He did with Simon Peter, He will call us, and His Love will pull us to Him.
This is one example of one verse. There are many more to choose from. Open your Bible and pick one. This is how I meditate, and when inspired to do so, write. I allow Him to use me, even though I know my unworthiness, because I know He will take my efforts and make them whole. He will make them worthy in His sight.
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