"I'm Just Trying to Pay You Back, Smart Aleck"

Heb 6:10 - For God [is] not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

Let's take a look at Luke 5. Verse 2 says - And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing [their] nets. Wait a minute. Verse 5 will tell you that they had been out all night fishing. I know that I'm not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but if they had been out fishing all night, that means that those nets had been in the water. Why did they need to be washed? If you read all of the previous verses, you'll know that Peter and the boys had taken the nets out of the boats to a separate place. They needed to spread the nets out, take out foreign particles like seawead or things that might have gotten tangled during the night of fishing. These items could cause the nets to tangle and keep them from opening correctly. Also, it gave them a chance to examine the nets for torn webbing that would allow fish to escape. All of these things were important to the fishermen. It meant the difference between catching fish or losing them because of tangled or broken nets. It meant having enough money to put food on the table. It meant being able to buy the things that they needed to to live. It was a vital part of their day.
It is just like daily Bible reading and daily prayer for the Christian. These two are vital parts of our lives. They give God an opportunity to untangle things in our lives that daily living tangles up. They give God an opportunity to patch up holes in our lives that daily "strains" seem to put there. Amen? Can you see the parallel? Every day problems that we face sometimes get us tangled up as to what God's will is for us. The "strain" of facing these problems sometimes "tears us apart." Never, never, never, ever forget that Jesus' blood was shed to redeem us from sin, sickness and poverty. That is why it is so important to get a daily dose of His Word. And how can He speak words of kindness to us if we never come to Him and prayer and shut up during prayer. Spend some silent time with Him and let Him do some talking if He wants to.
Luke 5:3 - 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 5:4 - Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
Luke 5:5 - And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
Peter and the boys were probably thinking, "Hey, Jesus-whoever-you-think-you are, you sound pretty good at preaching. Well, we're pretty good at fishing because that's what we've been doing all of our lives. Why don't you just stick to preachin' and let us tend to fishin." However, Jesus had just finished a sermon in front of hundreds if not thousands of people. They believed this Jesus guy to be a real somebody. All hundreds or thousands of them were standing there watching to see what Blowhard Peter was going to do.
So, Mr. Slickster thinks he is going to pull a fast one on Jesus, since Jesus is only a preacherman. Go down to verse seven. It says that they had to call for help from the other ship. Peter knew that it took two boats to properly fish with a net. Trying to pull a fast one on the stupid preacher, ain't you Petey boy? You know it's a good thing that none of us try to pula fast one on Jesus, ain't it? R-i-i-i-i-i-i-ght.
Notice that in verse 5, Peter says "Nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net." Peter knew where the fishing spots were and was not even going to give Jesus a hint. His plan was to drop the nets into the water, and wait a little while until the crowds started leaving. He knew that the nets would never fully open with just one ship. That's right, drop the nets overboard, pull them back in real quick, make a fool out of Jesus and go home and get some sleep. It was a real slick plan.
Did Jesus fall for this plan? He sure did. He was in the the whole creation thing back in Genesis 1. He knew where the good spots were. He also knew the fish. But most of all, the fish knew who Jesus was. They knew that He was King of kings and Lord of lords and to disobey Him was to bring on disaster.
Up at the top of this lesson, Hebrews 6 tells us that God always remember our work and labour of love. Sure, He was asking a strange thing of Peter. Sure, it did not make sense to go fishing during the day when the fish were supposed to be out in the deep water where their nets couldn't reach. But, Jesus had used Peter's boat and He was just paying Peter back for it's use. He knew that Peter was hard-headed and a blowhard. Trying to reason with Peter would have been useless until he realized who Jesus was. Once Peter found out, he would make a great disciple.
Sometimes God asks strange things of us. First of all, our relationship with Him needs to be so up-to-date that we know when He is speaking and when it's just us thinking. He might be directing us to take a position in the church. He might be directing us to attend another church that needs help. He might be directing us in a specific way of giving or of increasing our giving. Sometimes, the things that He asks do not make sense to us. Sometimes, they go against the grain of the way we have been doing things all of our lives. If we know God, and know that He is directing us in a thing, then go for it and let Him be responsible for the blessing. Remember Peter. In all his vast experience, what Jesus asked him to do did not make sense at all. However, to Jesus, it made perfect sense. Peter did not realize that until Jesus was through blessing him. Have patience with God. He might just be trying to pay us back abundantly for all the hard work we have done. Know Him and know His blessings.