CALLED UNTO GREATNESS
Memorise: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee,
which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, fear not; from
henceforth thou shalt catch men. Luke 5:10
Read: Luke 5:1-10, 1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him
to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
2 And
saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them,
and were washing their nets.
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.
4 Now
when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and
let down your nets for a draught.
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.
7 And
they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they
should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that
they began to sink.
8 When
Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I
am a sinful man, O Lord.
9 For he
was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which
they had taken:
10 And so
was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon.
And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
Bible in one year: Galatians 1-3, Psalms 17
MESSAGE
There is something special about
the call of God from generation to generation and from dispensation to
dispensation. For example, in Genesis, when God made a call among the Trinity
about the creation of man, something great came out of that call and that is
the uniqueness of man as a special creation. It should be remembered that there
was no call at all when other creatures were being created. After the fall,
there were many generations up to the time of Abram and when God called Abram and
changed his name to Abraham, his life never remained the same.
In our Bible reading for today,
we read about the call of Peter into the office of apostleship. When at the
lake of Gennesaret, Peter had no idea of awesomeness of the call when Jesus
said to him: “Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” (Luke 5:10). Peter, an ordinary
fisherman, became great as a result of this ‘simple’ call. Many Cathedrals have
been built and named after Peter, the frustrated fisherman before his encounter
with Jesus. One can see that a single encounter with Jesus can make a great
difference in one’s life. Jesus is calling someone today as you read this
devotional and He is saying:
“Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye
shall find rest unto your souls.”
To have a profitable encounter
with Jesus, certain things must be done. You must answer His call. He is
calling you to follow Him, but you must not just follow Him, you must learn of
Him, and all the ideals He brought from His father must be imbibed by you.
Jesus said:
“My
doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he
shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of
myself.”
John
17:16-17
Learning of Jesus entails living
according to how He lived here on earth. His life of obedience to the will of
His Father must be emulated. The Bible enjoins us to have the same mind like
Christ (Philippians 2:5-11), and we
shall experience great elevation like Jesus did. God is calling us to be like
Him; He wants to make us great. May we not refuse His call today; firstly for
salvation and secondly for service.
Action Point
What area do you think God is calling you into? Answer Him now and
be blessed.
Open Heavens Daily, written by Pastor E.A Adeboye
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