Knee-Mail: Nets | Dr. Kent Hovind's Blog

From:    Kent Hovind Sent:    April 29, 2008 To:    Peter

Subject:    Fishers of Men

First read:    Luke 5:1-9

Luke 5:1-9  “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,  And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.  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.  Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.  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.  And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net broke.  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.  When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.  For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken.”

KH:    Excuse me, Mr. Peter. What happened to that net? Is it ruined?

Peter:    Oh, it’s pretty badly ripped all right, but I think I can fix it. These nets cost about 150 shekels so we try to make them last as long as possible. We are real careful with them.

KH:    If you were careful, how did it get torn up so badly?

PT:    Well… about an hour ago, my partners and I were pretty discouraged. We had fished all night and caught nothing. We were tired. We were thinking about quitting and were washing the nets (Luke 5:2) right here on this same rock when that man over there talking to the crowd of people came by. His name is Jesus. He got in my boat a few feet from shore to preach to a huge crowd of people. While we washed the nets, he preached. It was incredible! I’ve never heard anything like it before. When he got done speaking, he told me to launch out into the deep water and let down the nets (Luke 5:4).

KH:     Did you do it?

PT:    Well…yes and no. I did launch out, even though I told him we had fished all night and caught nothing (Luke 5:5). I did let down one net, this one actually, even though he had said nets. I don’t know if it was laziness or lack of faith, or just not paying real close attention to his words, but I only put down one net.

KH:    What happened?

PT:    We caught so many fish, it ripped the net! We filled two boats with the fish! There were so many that both boats began to sink. I tell you, Kent, I’ve been fishing this lake all my life and I’ve never seen anything like it. Zebedee is taking the fish to market now.

KH:    What are you going to do now?

PT:    I’m gonna fix this net and leave everything here with Zebedee. I’m gonna follow that Jesus guy for the rest of my life. He said, “Follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men (Matt. 4:19).” If he can help us catch fish like this, I can’t wait to see how many men we catch!

KH:    There is no way you would believe me if I told you how it will turn out.

PT:    I’ll also try to listen to His instructions real carefully.

KH:    Great idea!