Chapter VII: The Draught of Fishes

[LUKE 5.4]

WHEN our Lord Jesus was on earth, He did so many kind and loving things, and made so many people well who were sick, that the multitude followed Him about everywhere, so that sometimes Jesus and His disciples had not even time to eat.

One day when He was by the Lake of Gennesaret (which is sometimes called the Sea of Galilee) the people pressed so close to Him that seeing two small ships drawn up on the shore, Jesus entered one of these, and asked the owner to put his ship a little way from the land, so that He might speak to the people where they all could hear.

The ships were empty, for the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets in the lake.

The fishing-boat that Jesus entered, belonged to Simon Peter, whose wife's mother had been healed by Jesus, a very short time before. Peter loved Jesus very much, and he had already been chosen to be His disciple.

So when the Lord had done talking to the people, He told Simon Peter to launch the ship out into deep water, and to let down their nets to catch some fish.

But Simon told Him that they had been up, working hard all the night, but it had been all for nothing, as they had not caught a single fish—!

But Simon did not stop there; he added—what has been a comfort to hundreds and thousands of people since then—"Nevertheless at Thy word I will let down the net."

Do you think they caught nothing this time?

Ah, if you do, you have not thought what it is to be in the boat with Jesus!

When He commands, He makes it possible for us to obey. You will find that out, children, the more you love and trust Him.

So they let down the net; and now they enclosed such an immense number of fishes that their net began to break, and they were obliged to beckon to their partners, who were in the other ship, to come and help them.

And they filled both of the ships so full that they began to sink.

Then Simon Peter fell down at the feet of Jesus, and told Him that he felt himself to be too sinful to be near Him.

But Jesus never turns away because we are sinful; He comforted Simon Peter with the loving words we so often read in the Bible; He said, "Fear not!"

Then Jesus told Simon that he should be a fisher of men; that meant, that he should draw people into the Kingdom of Heaven.

And when Simon Peter and his partners, James and John, had brought their ships to land, they left everything, and followed Jesus.

And they became, very soon, His three chief disciples; and were privileged to be with Him on the mountain when He was transfigured, and heard God speak from heaven: "This is My beloved Son, hear Him."