Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–
October 8– Morning
by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and edited by W. C. Neff
“Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.”
—Luke 5:4
We learn from this command to the Lord’s disciples the necessity of human agency. The ingathering of fish on this occasion was miraculous, and yet neither the fisherman, nor his boat, nor his fishing tackle were ignored, but all were used to take the fishes. So too in the saving of souls, God works by means; and while the present economy of grace will stand, God will be pleased by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
When God works without instruments, he is no doubt glorified, but he has simply chosen to be more directly magnified in the earth. Means, by themselves, are utterly powerless to do anything. The Fisherman had told Jesus, “Master, we have worked all night and have caught nothing.”
What was the reason for this; were they not fishermen, applying their special calling? To be sure, their hands were callused; they understood the work. Had they gone about the toil unskillfully? No. Were they lazy? No, they had worked hard! Did they lack perseverance? No, they had worked all night. Was there a deficiency of fish in the sea? Certainly not, for as soon as the Master came, they swam into the net in large schools. What, then, is the reason for the change in their success?
Is it because there is no power in the means themselves apart from the presence of Jesus? “Without Him we can do nothing.” But with Christ “we can do all things.” Remember this: Christ’s presence confers success. Jesus sat in Peter’s boat, and the influence of his will mysteriously drew the fish to the net. When Jesus is lifted up in his Church, his presence is the Church’s power– the shout of a king is in the midst of her. “If I am lifted up,” Jesus said, “I will draw all men unto me.”
Let us go out this morning on our work of soul fishing, looking up in faith and around us in solemn anxiety. Let us work hard until the night comes, and let’s not labor in vain for the One who tells us to let down the net will fill it with fish. [M&E]
