Day 140: Luke 5:8–11

He and all those with him were amazed at the catch of fish they took, and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s partners (vv. 9–10).

Today we celebrate a fact that continually staggers my imagination: Christ calls mere mortals to join Him in His work. Trust me, He doesn’t need our help. Christ could save the world through dreams and visions if He chose to. But He doesn’t. He delights in asking us to join Him. I am convinced that every believer is summoned by Christ to work with Him here on earth. In fact, we learn a lot about how and why He does it by observing this encounter between Jesus and Peter on the lake in Luke 5:

1. Christ knows more about our jobs than we do. Jesus told Peter how to fish. Now, had Peter not already known Christ, he might have thought: “Me fisherman, You carpenter. I won’t tell You how to build, and You don’t tell me how to fish.” Instead, he submitted with only one brief disclaimer: “We’ve done this all night and caught nothing.”

One of the most critical reasons believers experience defeat is because we categorize only a few areas of our lives as Christ’s arena. Many Christians think Christ’s jurisdiction doesn’t extend into certain areas. So, as if to save Him the extra trouble of dealing with things that don’t concern Him, they leave Christ at church to deal with areas related to His expertise.

Satan is greatly defeated when we start living the truth that every area is Christ’s specialty. Whether you’re a homemaker, steelworker, or CEO, Christ knows every detail associated with your job. Jesus knows accounting, movie-theater managing, banking, drafting, engineering, nursing, real-estate brokering, and anything else we could do. For crying out loud, the One who knows the numbers of hairs on your head could also style them if He wanted. Not one of us does anything for a living that He can’t do better.

2. Christ honors our submission even when our only motivation is obedience. If there was one phrase I wasn’t going to say as a parent, it was “Because I said so.” I heard those words from my Army captain dad more times than I could count. I wasn’t about to repeat them. After all, I had studied child development. I vowed to explain things to my children as if they were little adults. I almost got away with it too. Then I had Melissa—the proverbial “But, why?” child. One day she pushed me too far, and something in me snapped. I suddenly exploded, “Because I said so!” Not just once. I screamed it over and over like a mad bull on a rampage. I even screamed it at the dog. Four-year-old Melissa shrugged her shoulders, said “OK!” and skipped off happily.

I called my dad and thanked him. Sometimes God allows us to explore the “whys” of His instructions. Other times He wants us to obey “because He said so.” Then wait on the Lord to bless your act of obedience, no matter how long it takes. He is faithful.

3. The same job subjected to Christ’s authority can yield entirely different results. Peter surely had fished in every level of water in the lake. The key to his enormous catch was not the deep water Jesus had instructed him to fish in. It was simply the authority of Christ. Beloved, if your job has grown stale, you may not need a new occupation. You may just need a new partner. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Col. 3:23–24).

Every hour you do your job as working for the Lord gets punched on a time clock in heaven. You get paid by God Himself for the hours you work as unto the Lord. I’m not being cheesy. Our future inheritance is real, and it far exceeds minimum wage. As you partner with Christ at your job, you will be more efficient. No matter whether your new efficiency increases your earthly dividends or not, it most definitely will increase your eternal dividends, where moth and rust cannot destroy or thieves break in and steal (see Matt. 6:19).

4. Christ’s willingness to empower us can overwhelm us. Simon Peter already knew Jesus possessed extraordinary power, but he felt the real impact of Christ’s power when that authority worked through his own hands. Suddenly the fisherman fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8).

What blessed condescension that the God of glory would use us! And what humility this realization should bring! Peter was not prepared to receive his call until he had been confronted by his sin.

I have assuredly faced moments of such stark realization of my own sin that I felt unbearable pain. Interestingly, those moments did not come during times of rebellion, but rather, they came during close encounters with God when I drew close enough to get an eyeful of myself. Those realizations were both harrowing and liberating. The surrender resulting from the realization of my own innate unholiness did more to activate the holiness of God in me than anything I’ve ever experienced. How like God! Even our painful realizations of sinfulness are to mortify us to new life.