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Life is about more than fish.
Focus on God, not the fish. God will provide all that you need and unlock what you really want.
Do you know what it is that you WANT?
What if what you THINK you want is not REALLY what you want?
We often confuse what we WANT with what we NEED. What we THINK we want is often really what we NEED.
Because it’s hard to get what we need, we think that’s what we want.
It’s very hard to make money. Especially if you don’t have much to begin with.
Young people are having a hard time getting a job. It’s getting harder and harder to keep a job.
So yes, it takes a lot of work to get what we need.
But when you get what you need, you’re not satisfied. Getting what you NEED can never satisfy.
Money, love, acceptance- these are things we need. Even pleasure and leisure – we need these things. Human beings are not animals meant to only work.
But the things that we need cannot satisfy.
We need something, so we get it, but then we’re not satisfied.
You need MORE than that. Only getting what you WANT can satisfy.
Simon was a fisherman. He needed fish. That was his livelihood.
The fact that he owned a boat meant that he had a fishing business. It was a hard business.
That very night, he fished all night but caught nothing. Catching fish is what he thought he wanted.
But Jesus came and told him to put his net out into deep water. He had fished all night and caught nothing, yet Jesus was telling him to go again.
Simon was probably skeptical, but he listened to Jesus.
The result was pretty crazy:
When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. (Luke 5:6,7)
It was the biggest catch of his life! He had more fish than he needed.
But instead of being so happy, we see an interesting response.
But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’s knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8)
I am a sinful man!
Simon received everything he thought he had wanted. But in that moment, he saw something clearly.
He saw that his focus had been on fish, not God.
Simon was a member of the synagogue. Every Sabbath he would have heard the Word being taught.
For Jews, from the time they were born, they were imprinted with this commandment:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
The most important commandment was to love God. It was to seep into their whole existence.
It didn’t come out of nowhere.
It was forged from their experience in the wilderness.
In the wilderness, there was nothing. No food, no water.
But there, they experienced God’s presence in a powerful way. God provided everything they needed.
God sent manna from heaven. God sent quails for meat. God made water flow from the rock.
In the wilderness, they learned to love God and trust God completely.
God created human beings to live in relationship with him. God blessed Adam and Eve with everything in the Garden of Eden.
We were to enjoy all this abundance in relationship with God.
But sin began when they turned their focus away from God. When they lost trust in God. When they hid and turned away from God.
Sin begins when we turn our orientation and focus to the things we NEED and AWAY from GOD.
When we become preoccupied with what we need, we turn away from God. The worries and anxieties of what we need take over our thoughts.
Sin is separation from God.
When we put what we NEED at the centre, we separate ourselves from God.
And in focusing on what we NEED, we lose touch with what we WANT.
In the presence of Jesus, Simon saw how much he had turned away from loving God at centre.
God knows what we need. He knows that we need money, food, clothing. Love, acceptance, and validation.
God doesn’t want us to be blind to our needs.
We need to work hard. We need to use our brains that God gave us.
But they cannot be our center.
Our love, loyalty and devotion need to be to God alone. Our complete trust must be in God.
Jesus said:
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:31-33)
Trust God. Love God first and with all your heart. And God will provide all that you need.
That’s what Peter experienced in the presence of Jesus. He saw how far he had gone away from God in his focus on fish.
After Simon’s confession, this is what Jesus said to him:
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” (Luke 5:10)
Jesus provided everything Simon needed. But now he unlocked what Simon really WANTED.
What Simon wanted was not fish. Fish was merely what he needed to live.
What he WANTED was a bigger purpose. A life that was drawn toward the divine will. A calling that connected him a bigger life.
Jesus unlocked this deeper desire that had been HIDDEN.
A deeper desire hidden and buried underneath his pursuit of fish.
My friends, what do you really WANT?
Have you been able to ask yourself that? Or have you been so focused on what you NEED?
God wants to give you an abundant life. That is what Jesus came to give.
God’s desire is for you to live for what you WANT. When you’re connected with God, you get in touch with what you WANT.
God will take care of your needs. God will free you from your fear and preoccupation so you can live for what you WANT.
Living for what you want – that is a life of joy, purpose, significance. That is a life worth living for!
Simon Peter found that after meeting Jesus.
Finding what he wanted was worth more than all the fish he could ask for. That’s why he left everything – all of his fish – and followed Jesus.
My friends, we need fish to live.
I love fish. I’ve loved fish and chips since the time I was a child. I love mackerel (고등어) and 된장찌개. I love sushi – sushi boats with sashimi and rolls, yum! I love salmon chirashi. I love McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish.
I love fish. But life is more than fish.
Fish can satisfy my taste buds and appetite. But fish can never satisfy my soul.
Only Jesus can.
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)
We’re living in a very unsettling time. Everyday there’s something new.
Most recently, we’ve had a scare with the tariffs. Something about this has shaken Canadians to the core.
Donald Trump threatened to take away our fish. I thought we were friends!
How are you doing me like that? You tryna take my fish? You may take all of my fish, but I gonna take some of yo fish. Keep yo hands off my fish! We ain’t friends no more.
We don’t know what’s in store.
But more than ever, fix your eyes firmly on God.
Stand more rooted on the solid rock of Jesus. Love God with all your heart and put all your trust in him.
God will provide all the fish you need. God will reveal what you really want. God will lead you to green and abundant pastures.
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