One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, 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 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. (Luke 5:1-11 NIV1978)

I love this passage of Scripture! Jesus is saying the same to us today. He is calling us to “put out into deep water for a catch”, i.e. he is saying that we need to be willing to die for our faith in Jesus Christ, and to be willing to be hated and rejected, and to be willing to go wherever he sends us, and to say whatever he would have us to say, and to do what he would have us to do, even if it is not popular, and even if it is considered weird by some people.

And “Deep water,” to me, means stepping out of our comfort zone, and going out into the unknown, to what might be scary to us, to the unfamiliar, and possibly involving sacrifice or hardship. But whatever it is, i.e. whatever our “deep water” may be, it will involve faith and trust and doing what Jesus tells us to do, even if it doesn’t look possible by human standards.

Peter said to Jesus that they had worked hard all night. I think sometimes we may work very hard at what we believe God has called us to do, and sometimes without visible rewards, and so we think that our efforts are not producing anything. And sometimes we may be working in our own strength, with our own efforts to try to do God’s work, but we are not hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to us, and we’re not allowing him to work through us, and so our own human efforts do fail to produce results.

Then Jesus speaks, and he tells us what to do and how to do it. And we have a choice. We can go on in our own strength. Or we can give up because we didn’t catch anything. Or we can yield to the Master, do what he says, his way, and then we will catch “fish.” And the results, even there, may not come immediately. We may not see the visible results right away. And that, again, involves believing in what Jesus says, then doing it even when we can’t see what lies ahead. Even though the fishermen had worked hard all night and had not caught anything, still they did what Jesus told them to do.

I love Peter’s response. First he says, “Master.” And Master means Lord, and Lord means the one in charge; the boss. So, he first of all acknowledged the Lordship of Jesus Christ over his life. Then he stated their circumstances clearly. Yet he added this: “Because you said so…” Oh, how I love that!!

Even when things don’t look possible by human understanding, if we know it is Jesus speaking, and we know he is saying to do it, we can say with Peter, “Because you said so, I will.” I will do whatever I believe Jesus is telling me to do which is in agreement with the Word of God and is in harmony with the nature of God. For what is impossible with man is possible with God.

So, even though we are in a difficult time in human history, still the Lord Jesus is calling us who are his disciples to “put out into deep water for a catch,” i.e. “to catch men,” i.e. to share the gospel. For many people don’t know Jesus. Many don’t know the salvation that could be theirs in Christ Jesus, and the freedom from sin, and the joy of knowing our Lord.

And Jesus is coming again, and he is coming to judge. So, we need to be doing what Jesus has called us to do in “putting out into deep water” and in seeking for people to believe in Jesus, because we want all people to know our Lord and to have the peace that comes from being in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, which is the only true peace there is.

[Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 28:18-20; John 4:31-38; John 13:13-17; John 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Romans 10:14-15; Ephesians 5:11-14; 1 Peter 2:9,21; 1 John 2:6]

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

Your New Life

Based off the Gospels
An Original Work / May 15, 2014
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Go and make disciples of peoples,
Teaching them to obey their Savior.
Do not fear, but go where He sends you.
Tell them all of what you have heard.

The kingdom of God now is upon you.
Come, and follow Jesus, your Lord.
He will make you fishers of man.

If the people Jesus desire,
They must die to sin and to self-life.
If they want to hold on to their lives
They will lose them forevermore.

Surely you heard that coming to Christ
Means a new life in Jesus, your Lord.
Follow Christ wherever He leads.

Love the Lord with all of your heart, and
Love your neighbors as you would yourself.
Preach the gospel to all the nations.
Do not worry what you will say.

Proclaim the freedom for all the captives.
Share the light with all who are blind.
You are ministers of our God.

Put Out Into Deep Water
Taken in part from an older document dated December 8, 2010
Slightly edited for grammatical errors (those discovered)
An Original Work / Reposted February 24, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love