St. Luke 4: 42 – 5:11

42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them.

43 And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.

44 And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:

10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.

11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

Do as Jesus advises and you will be rewarded. The fishermen had no reason to believe they’d catch anything, especially considering it was an empty net that resulted from their labors but, on His advice, they dropped the net again.

The calling of the Twelve is a wonderful story. Jesus says, “Follow Me” and they do! They walk away from their homes, their families, everything they’ve known and walk into a world beyond their imagination. Staggering.

Jesus called us, too. We, too, help to spread the Gospel. That’s the thing about good news – we always want to share it. Mouth to mouth, blog to folks, chatting on a park bench – we always want to share it.

When Jesus calls, it’s our hearts that hear Him and pulse stronger for the love we’ve met. It’s the knock on the door that we’ve answered and have been grateful for all the rest of our lives.

It’s incredibly humbling, isn’t it?