Outta the Box pt. 1 "Casting Your Nets" - From 2008

"Casting Your Nets"

So, this weekend was truly uplifting in more ways than one and the fact that I was blessed with good health that allowed me to be a part of it made it even better.

I wanna throw a thought out there to you all....Why do we settle? Hmmm...well, Tim there are many reasons. What are you referring to? Glad you asked....

Well lets look at the obvious first:

Contentment. Am I saying that its wrong to be content? Not at all. I think that ultimately everyone’s goal is to become content with life. Sure there are things that will keep us "drove" to keep on keeping on, but don’t we all just get to a place in life that we just say to ourselves...,"It’s time for cruise control."

Tradition. This one is a kicker, especially in the religious realm. Too many times we stand beside and let man’s tradition determine what we do....or say....or even feel alot of times. This wicked and perverse generation has corrupted our minds into thinking that we don’t have to be progressive anymore. It tells us, you’re at a good point no sense in "messing up a good thing". Traditions of man say "its always been done that way..." or "it works for the most part". Lets ask ourselves the question, "Is that the only way?"

Promise. Now this one can be confusing, but what I mean by Promise is the sense of permanance. Whoa, Tim, that is pretty deep. Alot of times, even growing up as kids, we were made "promises" and probably even made some ourselves. What happens to the mind of the promisee when we do this? It creates a sense fullfillment, a state of mind that allows us to no longer focus on a goal cause we were already made that "promise" that it would be done. Now Tim, Jesus makes us promises doesn’t he. Yes, you are correct, however, with the promises that Jesus makes they have requirements in order for us to receive those promises. By setting those requirments he keeps our minds focusing on that goal...he had a plan in doing this...did you think that it was just shere coincidence???? I don’t. And that brings me to the point of this blog....

Lets take our minds back to the Bible for a bit...back to the time when the diciples were in the boat fishing and had not had any luck.....

Luke 5:1-11

1.One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a]with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2.he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3.He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4.When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down[b] the nets for a catch." 5.Simon answered, "Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." 6.When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7.So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8.When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" 9.For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10.and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men." 11.So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Now this is a great example of showing us how at first Jesus’ diciples wanted to "settle", but Jesus had other plans. He told them to let down there nets in the keep water. These men were tired, they were frustrated, and to a point probably even depressed cause they had not caught anything, but....did they argue? They kept an open mind and then Simon said, "..but because you say so, I will let down the nets." After they did this, what happened? They had so many fish, their nets begin to break and the boat began to sink.

Now...did Jesus magically make these fish appear for there benefit? I don’t think so. Did he know some kind of secret fish code that called them up to the boat? Nope. Jesus did this to establish a point that although we sometimes think we have the answers or know the best way to do things (remember, some of these guys were fishermen for a living) there are always other options besides settling. Could they have told Jesus, "Master, we spend our days doing this. We know the ins and outs of fishing. We’re telling you there is no reason to let our nets back down."? Sure they could’ve, but they didn’t settle. They didn’t have the mindset of "This is the only way."

Let us continually pray to God for guidance with this. It’s a daily struggle for all of us to not get wrapped up in Contentment, Tradition, & Promise. Let us never settle for second best in our walk with Christ.