Because He said So

But at your word I will let down the nets.

Luke 5:5

Many of us grew up asking our parents the reasons for what they told us to do. Often we heard, “Because I said so.” Then we grew up and became parents who tell our children, “Because I said so.” Sometimes this was our response because we didn’t always have the time to give our children the details. Yet, other times, we didn’t feel the need to go there with them. We wanted them to obey without questioning our motives nor authority.

The Lord is the best Parent for all of His children and He expects us to obey without questioning Him. Peter and the other fishermen had been fishing all night long without catching one fish. Probably feeling defeated and tired, the fishermen were cleaning their nets when Jesus came to sit in Peter’s boat. In order to preach to all the people who were following Him, it was easier for Jesus launch out a little from the land. When he was done, he told Peter to put his nets in the deep water.

Peter told Jesus (the Creator of the sea and everything that lived in it) that he had fished all night without one catch. However, Peter chose to obey even though he may have felt that he was a more experienced fisherman than Jesus. As a result, they caught so much fish that they needed the boats of other fishermen to gather them.

God has called us to obey what He commands because He knows what is out in the deep for us. He knows exactly the right place for us to launch our nets. If we would obey and trust His voice more than our own finite knowledge and experience, we will enjoy the abundance of His blessings.