The Catch In "The Deep" (Lu. 5:4-5)

Read Luke 5:4-5.

As I see it, and I could be way off (which wouldn't be the first time), I've labored long and hard.  I'm getting weary.  I desperately want a "catch", but it eludes me.  Much (too much, I think) time is taken mending the net.  The tears seem to get worse.  I feel as if I'm skilled in scattering, not gathering.

"At Your word" -- That's what keeps me going. Jesus wants me to catch something!  This catch of souls will come at His word, in His time, and in His place.

Notice that the catch comes in "the deep" (5:4).

• deep desire -- I must want souls more than anything else.
• deep delight -- I must love lost people and not view them as potential success statistics.
• deep determination -- The "deep" is not easily or automatically accessed.  I must persevere and never settle.  I must continue to work hard.
• deep devotion -- I must want to please and obey Jesus more than I want any ministry success (including that catch of souls).
• deep dialogue -- I must learn how to pray more effectively to God and talk more convincingly to the lost.  I must pray in the Spirit more intensely and consistently.
• deep discipline -- I can't effectively use a net that isn't ready for the load.  I must keep at the work of cleaning and mending the nets, starting with my own heart.

Two Observations:

1. You mend nets in the shallow but cast them in the deep.
2. Casting in the shallow is a wasteful maneuver.