Daily Devotional - Hear and Obey

Simon (Peter) answered, Master, we toiled all night [exhaustingly] and caught nothing [in our nets]. But on the ground of Your word, I will lower the nets [again].
—Luke 5:5

God has blessings and new opportunities in store for us. To receive them we must hear His voice so we can perceive them and then take steps of faith toward them. This often means doing things we don’t feel like doing, may not think will work, or may not feel are important. But our trust and reverence toward God must be greater than what we personally want, think, or feel.

We see a perfect example of this in Luke 5. Peter and some of the other disciples had been fishing all night; they had caught nothing. They were tired; in fact, they were exhausted. They needed a good night’s sleep and probably wanted a good meal. They had just finished washing and storing their nets, which was a big job.

Then Jesus appeared on the shore of the lake and told them that if they wanted to catch a haul of fish, they should cast their nets again, this time in deeper water. Peter explained that they had worked hard all night and had caught nothing, and that now they were tired. But he also agreed to try again because Jesus had told them to do so.

This is the kind of attitude the Lord wants us to have. We may not feel like doing something; we may not want to do it; we may not think it is a good idea; we may be afraid it will not work, but we need to be willing to hear and obey God when He speaks to us.

God’s word for you today: Be willing to obey God even if you don’t feel up to it. He has great things in store for you!