I Am a Sinful Man, O Lord!

Reading: Matt. 5:3
Luke 5:1-11,

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, 

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 

Matt. 5:3

Jesus preached all through Galilee. On one occasion the multitudes pressed against Him so close and there were so many of them, they could not hear Him speak. He was standing by the Sea of Galilee and saw two fishing boats. So He got into Simon's boat, and asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and taught the people. When He stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." Simon said, "we have worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at Your word I will lower the nets. Yes, Simon saw himself as the expert. What did Jesus know about fishing? Simon did not realize who was sitting in his boat. We do, because we know the rest of the story, Jesus' whole story. But this was all new to Simon at this point. Well, since Jesus said to do it he reluctantly put out the boat into the deeper water. Are you reluctant to do what the Lord says? I have been. It shows little faith. Well, to Peters surprise... his amazement... actually his astonishment...they caught so many fish their net was breaking. They filled two boats so full they began to sink.

"When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Depart from me,  for I am a sinful man, O Lord!' For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken. Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.'" Luke 5:8-11 NKJ

This moment right here... this moment in Simon's life is the moment of his conversion. Though Jesus was remarkable, winsome, and even a little mysterious in some of the things He said; He looked like an ordinary man. It was at this moment that Simon realized that Jesus was no ordinary man. Like Isaiah, this was Simon's moment that "he saw the Lord".  He saw the glory of Jesus Christ. He caught a glimpse of who Jesus really is. In light of the authority and power of Jesus Christ he recognized his own sin and spiritual poverty. He was not only surprised, amazed, astonished; He was in the state of fearing God, who was actually sitting in his boat. This is where being poor in spirit begins... where true conversion begins and where transformation continues if one gets sidetracked from complete abiding moment by moment.

Where are you right now? Are you a follower with a true conversion? Or are you like Peter before the huge catch of fish...  a follower that has not had that revelation of the glory of Christ and realizing your own poverty in light of Him? Is He sitting in your boat? Do you see His glory in the ordinary that becomes  extraordinary... even little things, little signs of the hand of God moving in your life to draw you near to Him that could easily pass by unnoticed. Or like David, we can look into night sky, a sunrise or sunset, a rainbow, majestic mountains or a beautiful lake or sea, even a glimpse into a child’s eyes and see the glory of God’s beautiful creation.

At some point, I may write about what I call “Pennies from Heaven - when the ordinary becomes extraordinary.” It was and is a season in my life of a lot of physical pain and quietly, little ordinary things began to happen, opportunities that were brought to me... not initiated by me... and I took a deep breath and said “yes”, even though I did not feel like it. Little did I know where those “yes’s” would lead.