The Fifth Week of Easter: From FEAR to BELOVED

STEP ONE: BREATHE

Take a deep, cleansing breath. Allow the air to fill your lungs and expand your body. Exhale and empty yourself into the room. Repeat three times - once for the one who Created you, once for the Incarnate One who walks beside you, and once for the Spirit whose life fills your being.

STEP TWO: DWELL IN WORD

“He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”
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— Luke 5:3-4

A Jesus Story Retold : Before the Good News “FEAR NOT”

I’ve been fishing all my life. I don’t remember the first time my father took me out with him, I was that young.

Like anyone who’s a regular fisher, I’ve got my favorite spots on the sea. Landmarks known only to me so I can find them again. I know the best times to go out and the times of day that are just not worth it. I know where to go when it's calm and where to go after a storm (which is staying on shore, mending nets).

It’s a rare day when I can’t find a school of fish. But today was one of those days. No luck anywhere. Got so bad we even tried a few new places. Eventually we said enough and went home.

We were surprised how many people were near the shoreline when we returned. With a shrug, we went about our business, rinsing our nets and checking for holes.

As I was putting my nets back in my boat, I figured out what the crowd was about. It was that new traveling prophet I’d been hearing about. He was so close to me as the people crowded in, I had to shout out, “Watch out!” before he tripped on my anchor.

Then he turned and looked at me. It was understandable why people kept showing up. His nature had a pull like the tide. So when he asked if he could get in my boat, if I’d be willing to push off, I found myself saying yes.

As he kept teaching, I was as mesmerized as the crowd who were standing in the shallows. When he finished, I had to shake myself back to the moment.

I turned us toward shore when he said, “Go out to the deeper water and put down your nets.”

I tried to explain to him that we’d been fishing all night without success. That I couldn’t imagine anything happening now. But as I’d said, he had a pull like the tide. So we put down our nets.

They were barely in the water when they filled with fish. So many, we were struggling to get them up and out. I whistled to the other fishers and they rushed their own boats over, helping us pull in that catch. A catch greater than any I’d ever had. Greater than the fish tales told around a fire.

Who was this Jesus? How could someone with zero fishing experience just know? All I could do was look at him and shake my head in wonder. My legs gave out and I dropped my head, wondering if I should even be looking at the feet of one such as this.

Then I blurted out, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

STEP THREE: PRAY

You, Lord, change everything. May I remember that truth when I try to do it all on my own. Amen

Today’s devotion is by Pastor Meredith McGrath