1ST SEPTEMBER 2022
WITHOUT HIM, WE CAN ACCOMPLISH NOTHING
Our gospel passage today tells us that Jesus was by the sea shore and was going to speak to the people who were gathering there to hear Him. As they pressed in upon the Lord, He got into Simon Peter's boat and asked him to move away from the shore just a little. When Peter had done this, Jesus sat down and spoke to the crowds.
After He had finished His preaching, Jesus then commanded Peter to go out deeper so that he could let down his nets and catch a great load of fish. Peter immediately objected that he and his partners had labored all night and has taken nothing! In short, they had failed! Why did they fail? Surely it wasn't that they did not know how or where to fish. These men were experts. They were professional fishermen and knew how to fish and where to find the fish, and yet they fished all night long and caught nothing. The word "nothing" means "not even one". Their failure had nothing to do with how they were fishing or where they were fishing. Their failure came about because the Lord wanted to teach them a much-needed lesson. That lesson is that without Him, we can accomplish nothing!
This lesson is still needed by the Lord's people today! Many times, our struggles and failures are the result of our failure to do God's business God's way! He is the One Who should direct us in the steps we take. Unfortunately, we are guilty of trying to duplicates the activities of others instead of relying on the Lord for ourselves. Instead of merely implementing what has worked for others, we need to allow the Lord to chart a course for us!
Here is what we need to remember when we face opportunities to serve the Lord: Our success or our failure rests entirely on where Jesus stands in the picture! Here is what we are told by the Lord:“I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:5. We often fail because we do not trust Him! However, there is another promise in the Word of God that needs to be inserted right here. When we leave Jesus out of the picture, we will fail, but when He is followed, there will always be success, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me", Phil. 4:13
Comments