Fisherman Faith

Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing,
but I will do as You say and let down the nets."
- Luke 5:5 -

Faith, unlike what many people tell us today, is not believing that the outcome of something will turn out exactly as we want it to, and basing that belief on nothing at all.  Someone once said that faith is only as good as the object it is placed in.  The object of our faith is Jesus, whose words we can trust.  But faith is more than that.  It is willfully depending on that word and acting on it. A perfect illustration would be Simon Peter.  Peter must have thought Jesus was off his rocker when Jesus told him to lower his nets for a catch.  He had worked all night and had just cleaned his nets.  Now Jesus was telling him to dirty them again.  Peter also probably knew that the fish would not come out in broad daylight, and he probably thought that he, being a fisherman, knew more about fish than this carpenter's son.  Peter was tired.  And here was Jesus telling him to do something silly in front of crowds of people.  How embarrassing it would be if nothing came up. But Peter's reply is one of true, authentic faith.  He was tired, and experience told him that his efforts would be futile.  Plus he surely did not want to look silly in front of all those people.  Yet he said this: "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing," - he confessed that he did not understand what was going on.  "But because you say so, we will lower the nets." "Because you say so"!  That was reason enough for Peter to do as he was told.  The authenticity of his faith was proven by his action.  That, my friend, is true faith - simply taking Jesus at his word and acting on it.