God Wants to Work with You and Your Resources
The Lord said to Moises, "What is that in your hand?" He answered, "A rod." — Exodus 4:2
Now it happened, while the multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. — Luke 5:1-3
Author
Dr. Roberto Miranda
Summary: Christ wants to bring his love, hope, and healing to a world in need, and he chooses to do so in partnership with us. Just as he asked Peter for his boat and turned it into a platform for ministering to the crowd, he wants to place our lives and resources at the service of his Kingdom. Our profession, talents, relationships, and money can spread the Gospel when we put them at his disposal. For those who follow Jesus Christ, the Christian life is lived by serving others, submitting to God’s will, and surrendering fully to his purposes. That surrender, which opened the way for Peter to enter a ministry partnership and receive a greater calling, is a source of happiness, power, and true greatness.
Let us picture this moment when the Lord Jesus Christ finds himself pressed in by a great crowd. These people are eager to hear more from Jesus Christ. So they crowd around him, wanting to receive his ministry, wanting to receive his healing, his Word of love and hope. The Lord finds himself in something of a dilemma: the crowd is so close to him, perhaps making noise, that he cannot address them as he would like.
And then, finding a solution, he sees nearby some boats that have been left there to be cleaned by the fishermen, whom we later discover have spent the whole night trying to catch fish and have not caught a single one. And Peter is there washing his nets, perhaps a little frustrated and discouraged because he has not been able to catch anything all night. And the Lord Jesus Christ sees Peter, approaches him, and very gently asks Peter to allow him to use his boat, to get into it, use it as a platform, move a little way out from the shore, and then address the congregation gathered there in a much more convenient and efficient way.
And we see that Peter agrees to let the Lord use his boat at that moment. Later we will see that this is the beginning of a ministry relationship between Peter and the Lord Jesus Christ, and that it is the basis for a deeper and broader calling that the Lord extends to Peter later on. I have always seen this passage and Peter’s boat as a symbol of our own lives. God wants to draw near to a world deeply in need of his love. Christ wants to spread his message; he wants to carry out his works of healing in the life of this fallen humanity.
There are many people in need of the Word of hope and healing that only Christ can offer. God wants to work in collaboration with us, and he asks us for the resources we have at our disposal. Just as Peter had a boat, perhaps you have a profession, perhaps you have a musical talent, perhaps you have human relationships that you can use to spread the Gospel, money, and many different things that are at your disposal, just as that boat was at the disposal of Peter, who would later become the apostle Peter.
So remember this: God wants to reach the crowd; there are people in this world who need the Word of the Lord, and you are the solution to a limitation that God himself has chosen to impose upon himself. God wants to work with you; God wants to use your gifts. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, there is no other option but to let yourself be used. The only legitimate way to live the Christian life is by giving ourselves in an attitude and practice of service to others. But above all, by placing ourselves entirely at God’s disposal and at the service of the needs of his Kingdom.
A child of God is, above all, a servant of God, submitted to his will, ready for anything he may require, completely surrendered to his purposes. That is the source of happiness, the origin of power, the only path to greatness.
This meditation is part of a series of five brief messages about the miraculous catch of fish and the apostle Peter’s call to ministry. In them, Dr. Miranda discusses practical aspects of Christian growth and service: