“He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.” John 21:6
Oftentimes God asks us to do the simplest things and we are prone to question Him. It’s rarely some grandiose thing that God requests of us to test us, but rather simply gestures of trust. “Throw your rod to the ground”….and it became a snake. “Dip yourself into the water seven times”…and he was healed of leprosy. “Cast your net on other side of the boat”…..and the nets began to break because of all the fish. “Confess with your mouth…and believe in your heart”…..and you will be changed from a child of perdition to a son or daughter of God Almighty.
But when you think about it, it takes more faith in God to do the little things He requests, and them leave it to Him to do the mighty, or the impossible thing. Our pride gets in the way and we want to have a hand in it. We have a hard time admitting we are totally fallen and need His hand/help to get up. We want to help God and share in the credit, as it were.
Other religions describe salvation based upon man doing enough good things, or living a life that measures up to pleasure and expectations of the supreme being—whoever that might be. Only the Christian faith proclaims that we are not good and never will be, on our own merits. We will never win God’s favor by our own good works—it’s not enough. The only true God has told us through prophets, apostles, the holy Word and His own Son, that we can only come to Him by doing something very simple, but also very humbling: admit that we are in need of something only He can provide: Forgiveness. It’s so simple, but so rejected by the majority of the human race. We need forgiveness, and God can only forgive us because of the blood and broken body of Jesus. We have nothing to do we satisfying the debt we owe to God—that was accomplished on Good Friday by His Son, Jesus Christ.
I am “throwing my nets on the other side” during this pandemic. I am trusting that He will do the miraculous, unexplainable and unimaginable—-not because I have caused that miracle to come about, but because I have listened to Him and obeyed Him.
Dear friend: Are you listening to Him and obeying tonight? Cast your nets on the right side of the boat……….
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