“So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him” (Luke 5:11)
Today’s Word: Luke 5:1-11
Reflection: Fight to Flourish
Pastor Furtick introduces today’s sermon about making decisions with a reflection on a conversation he had with Jennie Lusko, the author of “The Fight to Flourish: Engaging in the Struggle to Cultivate the Life You Were Born to Live”. He is a fan of titles, however, Jennie didn’t seem to remember how and when her title was made. What she does remember is making the decision to write the book.
Making a Decision
We are addicted to being offended as a nation.
An offense is an event. Offended is a decision. Separate the two!
- Beginning to separate this out is probably important when parenting teenagers because unless you understand what led the decision, you will always try to correct the behavior.
Isn’t it easy to explain somebody else’s decision as unwise, while justifying our own as completely warranted? We can easily analyze someone else’s decision but can’t figure out why or when we made our own.
Every decision has a parent called an emotion. Every emotion is a descendant of a thought.
Every decision comes from a specific state of mind.
Every decision has momentum.
Following Jesus Now vs Then
Sometimes it’s easier to make physical decisions.
When the first followers of Jesus started to followed Him, it was more in the physical. Following Jesus for us now is not a physical decision, it’s abstract.
The first disciples didn’t know that when they left everything, they would gain everything! From a human perspective, by logic, this is a dumb decision! Why? Because that means they were leaving fish behind. Fish is how they made a living! Following Jesus meant leaving their boats behind. Those boats represented their economy, their careers, and their lives!
From a strategic standpoint, this is a dumb decision! They left everything!
To understand this decision, we have to go backward.
When you understand the events leading up to the decision, the maybe you will understand the final decision.
When you understand the difference between the two you can understand that an event doesn’t have to define the rest of your life unless you allow it to.
God gives you the power to make a decision.
- You don’t have to be a drunk for the rest of your life. You don’t have to be mean and hateful for the rest of your life. You don’t have to be pessimistic!
Giving your life to Christ is a decision. Example: Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast
To follow Him is a decision.
Luke Chapter 5
It is important to read all of Chapter 5 to understand the events that lead up to the decision of the first disciples.
| One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were 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 fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. |
Start Shallow
Some of us want to follow God and go deep with God as the disciples did. However, going deep with God starts with a shallow decision.
Sometimes we want sermons so deep we don’t even understand, but we first have to make shallow decisions. That’s the deepest thing that you can do: starting shallow. Baby steps. Start little.
In Luke 5:3, we see that before the disciples made a big decision, they made a little one: “He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore…”.
Some decisions we made were too deep and got us in the wrong cycle:
Deciding → Disruption → Denial
But in Luke 5, we are learning that life decisions can start shallow. Good or bad.
- Example: Pastor Furtick talks about a season he went through where he felt scare, anxious and even threatened. He decided to delete Twitter– a shallow decision– and it changed his life. His enemies went from lions to squirrels. Victory doesn’t have to be so deep.
Jesus didn’t call the disciples to follow him at first, He simply got them to push out a little. The disciples made a little decision.
Pastor Furtick is not saying that your problem is not deep, but what he IS saying is that your solution is so simple.
Will you do a little thing different today?
God can do a deep thing with a shallow start!
God’s strategy was so simple in Luke 5!
Let’s Go Deeper
Recap: First start shallow. Put out a little as it states in Luke 5:3. Then go deeper, as it shows us in Luke 5:4. Jesus tells Peter and the others to now put out in deeper waters, and then let down the nets.
Put out a little—> Put down the nets!
Every bid decision that others’ see contained a million little decision they didn’t see.
Marriage:
- Pastor Furtick describes a time in his early marriage with Holly where someone hung up the phone in the middle of a conversation (unsure if it he did it or Holly did it). At that moment he made the decision that it needs to stop.
- Nobody walks away from someone that they gave their heart to all at once. Decisions have momentum. So the day we hang up, five years down the line, there’s hatred because we put out a little.
Nobody decides addiction. Nobody decides depression. Every decision has a momentum.
Daily Decisions
Luke 5 is showing us that the disciples were going about their day, what they do on a daily basis. They were doing their job. It wasn’t like they woke up and decided to follow Jesus. So it wasn’t that deep, they were simply going about their day.
When we obey the word of the Lord, it breaks the flow of frustration. In verse 5, you can hear Simon Peter’s frustration on going fishing, but he obeyed Jesus anyway, and because he did, they caught so much fish that their nets almost broke.
God blessed them so much simply because they obeyed.
Not only did their nets break, but so did the flow of their frustration. So did the flow of their failure, so did the flow of their fear.
They broke their flow when they made a different decision.
Drop it
Jesus can give us The Truth yet we still won’t drop the nets.
DROP IT!
Drop every offense!
Drop every failure of fishing all night and catching nothing!
Drop what you did last week!
Drop the fight you had before you watched this video!
Sometimes we don’t drop the net because we are so caught up in discouragement when we are drowning in disappointment.
The Lord came in as a distraction for Peter. He came into Peter to help with fish and faith!
Peter is not perfect. Jesus chose Peter, knowing that he would later betray him.
Matthew 26:56:But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
Receiving Grace is a one-time decision. Following Jesus is a moment by moment decision.
To be a disciple is a daily decision.
The disciples that created Christianity have made decisions you have made.
Jesus knew Peter would do something dumb!
Do Something Dumb For God
Do something dumb that can take you deeper to God.
“So it would be dumb for you to forgive them”- DO IT!
It would be dumb for you to keep trusting and praising God although your body is sick–but DO IT!
It would be dumb for you to sit and listen to a sermon on the weekend: DO IT!
It would be dumb for you to believe in God when everything is falling apart. DO IT!
This is why God chose Peter. He knew Peter would do dumb things by the world standards and not care what anybody thinks about what God told Him.
The reason Jesus is choosing you is because there is no decision that you have made that will predate God’s purpose for your life.
Let’s be honest, you’ve done something wrong. I’ve done something wrong. We’ve all done something wrong.
Don’t judge yesterday’s decisions, with today’s wisdom.
- That mentality will only carry a momentum of shame that will carry you to an even deeper place of despair.
- Don’t use today’s wisdom as a weapon to beat yourself up for yesterday’s decisions.
In the wisdom of God, He chose you, knowing that you would do something dumb.
Jesus. Chose. First.
Jesus chose Peter’s boat over the other boat.
Jesus chose YOU, first. God knows all your dumb stuff and yet he still choses your boat!
This is the grace of God!
God’s decision predated your disfunction. Example in 2 Peter 1:21:
21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
God chose someone weak. God chose you because you said you were weak. God chose you.
God chosing first gives us hope because Peter has made dumb decisions; We have made dumb decisions and God still choses us.
So then, who chose who? Pastor Furtick believes HE is the one who got into your boat a long time ago. For if it is not in Human will, but in His.
The momentum is not based on your decision, is based in His.
Stop trying to fix your life on your own. Receive His grace. Let Him into your heart.
If you have yet to Let God into your heart, make this your day! Leave your boat and nets behind. God has already decided what He thinks about you. God wants to come into your life. If you have made the decision to let Jesus into your life, make this declaration:
The Lord’s Prayer
Heavenly Father, I am a sinner in need of a savior. And I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the savior of the world. Today, I make Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe He died, that I would be forgiven, and rose again to give me life. I receive this new life. This is my new beginning.
AMEN!
Normita
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