Luke 5:1-11
Lead in: With the crowd pressing in on him, Jesus escapes by finding a boat that he can use to talk to the crowd a short distance from the shore. Ever resourceful, Jesus figures out a way to deal with
a situation that had him hemmed in.
Prompt: Reflect on a time when you had to act quickly to a situation that had you hemmed in.
Lead in: After speaking to the crowd from the boat, Jesus asks Peter to put out into deep water to lower their nets. Peter is skeptical but he does as he’s told. Then the miracle happens with a catch of fish so great that their nets are close to tearing.
Prompt: Reflect on a time when you dutifully did what you were told, expecting nothing to happen, but to your surprise it did happen. What did you learn from this?
Lead in: In the spiritual life we never quite reach a point where we can say, “I’ve reached the top.
I have no need to grow anymore.” No matter where we are in our spiritual journey, like he did with Peter, Jesus always invites us to put out into the deeper waters of the spiritual life.
Prompt: Given your life as it is now, what are the deeper waters that Jesus is calling you to venture out to?
Lead in: At Jesus’ request, Peter puts out into deep water to lower their nets. At various times in our lives, God will challenge us to put aside our fear to lower our nets into the deep waters of the
unknown.
Prompt: Where is it in your life that God is challenging you to put aside your fear and skepticism to lower your net in the deep waters of the unknown?
Lead in: Peter and his fishing mates had fished all night and had caught nothing. They were ready to return to shore but, with the encouragement of Jesus, they persisted.
Prompt: Reflect on a time when you “kept fishing”, even though you felt like giving up and returning to the shores of comfort and security.
Lead in: Peter drops to his knees at this great catch of fish, “Leave me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” But Jesus assures him, “Do not be afraid. I know you feel unworthy, but I have work for you to do.”
Prompt: Was there ever a time when your own sense of unworthiness made you question if you were right for the work God was calling you to?
