Obeying the Captain
And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.
—John 21:6
It sounded a little illogical. The disciples had been out fishing all this time and hadn’t caught anything. Now Jesus was telling them to move the net to the other side of the boat. Was that really going to matter?
But the technique wasn’t important. What was important was Who told them to do what. So the disciples threw their net to the other side.
This would remind them of an earlier encounter with the Lord, when Peter loaned his boat to Jesus because Jesus wanted to speak to the multitudes gathered on the shore. When he had finished speaking from His floating pulpit, Jesus said to Peter, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4).
Peter responded, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing . . . ” (verse 5). But then he made an interesting statement: “Nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net” (verse 5). In the original language, this was a unique nautical phrase that could be translated, “Nevertheless, captain of this boat, we will do it.” Whatever Peter’s tone might have been, he caught a lot of fish that day.
Sometimes God’s commands don’t always make sense to us. But it’s important that we obey them whether we like them or not, whether we agree with them or not. When Jesus is the captain of your boat, things will always go much better. Let Him on board. Give Him the wheel. Let Him take control. And don’t be afraid to obey His Word.
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org.
Copyright © 2006 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.