Deep Waters

“And when he [Jesus] had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.’” - Luke 5:4-5, RSV-CE

In the recent years, prayer apps have gotten more popular. In the mornings, sometimes I am so tired, it is helpful to listen to a prayer. A prayer app I use and highly recommend is called Hallow.

One morning, I chose to listen to a Hallow “Daily Reflection” led by Jeff Cavins, a biblical scholar. He has such amazing insight. The reflection for the day was based on Luke 5:1-11, about the story of Simon and his brother putting their net out again into the deep waters at Jesus’ request. As I finished listening it hit me: We too, as Christians, must go into the deep water in our spiritual lives.1

Have you ever swam in the ocean? As in, the cold and wild ocean? I was raised in western Oregon, where I frequented the Oregon Coast as a child. When I was growing up, my mother always warned me of the dangers of this rocky coast and sneaker waves that could pull me out to sea if I wasn’t careful. “Never turn your back on the ocean” she always said.

These beaches are no Hawaiian, warm tropical oasis. They are rocky, windy, cold, and sometimes outright dangerous. I never went very far out for fear of being swept away, not to mention how cold the water was and still is!

Yet, Jesus asked his disciples in Luke 5:4 to “put out into the deep for a catch”. While the disciples were not fishing on the rocky Oregon coast, but likely in the Sea of Galilee, they still had to go back out into the deep water after a long and tiring night. They were exhausted. This particular story in Luke does not state what the conditions of the water were like, but we know that Jesus calmed a storm on the sea, in Luke 8, that greatly frightened the disciples. The sea they were fishing on was capable of disruptive storms. But, the disciples trusted in Jesus and went back out to fish despite the risks . . . and they were rewarded.

In order to catch the treasures in our own lives, we sometimes must go out and brave the conditions. Luke never specifies how long the nets were out in the deep. We could assume that it was very quick; but it could have been five minutes, fifteen minutes, or an hour. Jesus didn’t tell them how long to keep the net out there. He just said to put the net in the deep.

In our own lives, sometimes we are called out into the deep. We spend days, weeks, months, and years out there. However, Jesus is with us, unchanging through this time. We simply need to trust Him.

In Christ,

Lauren

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1 Cavins, Jeff (2023). “Where are your nets?”. Hallow. (accessed on 7 September 2023.)