“And Simon answered and said, “Master, although we worked hard through the whole night, we caught nothing. But at your word I will let down the nets.””
Luke 5:5 (NET)
When I left the corporate job in finance to pursue a call to the Christian ministry, it didn’t take too long for me to realize that my new journey was far different than the previous one. The realities of ministry fell like a hammer blow upon my preconceived notions of pastoring. It took one very difficult counseling session in the first several months for me to realize the depths of sin people face, the hurt it brings, and the help they need.
I remember coming to the conclusion that, “…unless God gives the words through His Word in these conversations, and unless they put the truths from God’s Word into practice, then I have nothing to offer and they have no hope of true and lasting healing and health.” I knew then and there that no self-help remedy would heal this person. I knew that the pain was too deep and the sin too tightly entangled for any quick-fix technique to make any real change. God’s Word had to be clearly and lovingly shared, they had to subsequently hear God’s Word (process through it as it relates to their condition), and then obey it (put God’s Word into practice), or we were lost at go.
Now, many ministry years have gone by, and the same realization remains–that unless God’s Word pierces through the veil of sin and shame and guilt and hurt and pain as a result of sin…that subsequently leads to regular obedience and confession, then we’re all merely watching vapor dissipate into thin air. There’s just no hope without God’s Word and it applied to our lives.
How Can We Apply This To Our Lives Today?
“By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; by knowledge its rooms are filled with all kinds of precious and pleasing treasures.” Proverbs 24:3-4
- Knowledge–this is the information we hear or read from God’s Word. Knowledge is the what’s of the Bible. As much as we might want the Word of God to enter our brains through osmosis, it simply doesn’t work that way.
- Therefore, we have to daily discipline ourselves to be in the Word of God. We have to let God’s Word pour into our heads through reading or listening to it everyday. There’s no other way to get the Knowledge of God’s Word.
- The danger of stopping only at knowledge is that your head has a tendency to get full, which leads to arrogance (1 Corinthians 8:1). Thus, you have to keep moving to…
- Understanding–this is the ability to see the connections between the information (knowledge) that is read from the Bible. Understanding is the why’s of the Bible. In other words, the more you read, the more you understand how the Bible is connected. The books of the Bible may be thousands of years separated, but they link together a story of redemption through each page.
- Therefore, we have to think critically and holistically about the knowledge we gain from the Bible. We also have to get good at asking the “why” questions of the information we read from the Bible. For instance, ask, “…why did Jesus come for the Jew first and then the Gentile? Why did Jesus ever turn and offer salvation to the Gentile, etc.?”
- The danger remains if we stop at only gaining knowledge and understanding. We have to keep aiming and pursuing on to the next point, which is…
- Wisdom–this is the application or putting into practice the knowledge and understanding gained from a daily discipline of being in God’s Word. This is letting down the nets. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the recognition that God is the supreme Creator and is the providential Guide. Thus, as a result of reading His Word (knowledge), seeing how it connects to God’s mission of redemption (understanding), I obey (wisdom) and walk in the fear of the Lord.
- Therefore, through wisdom we walk in the light and not in the darkness. We confess when we fail and we reconcile with our brothers and sisters through a ministry of restoration rooted in love.
And so, as we read God’s Word, we understand God’s Word, and as we understand God’s Word, we obey God’s Word…until we see Him face to face.
Thus, we let down our nets at the Word of God…and are then ready for the harvest!
God help us!
— November 1, 2019