Caught Not Just Taught

Chapter 4
Caught Not Just Taught

We get bombarded with all types of information daily. Not everything we hear are we able to respond to, know matter if we agree with it or not. With all the knowledge we are receiving it is easy to have information overload. Where we have just heard too much and don't even know where to start so we do nothing. How many of us have heard a sermon that was so inspiring yet did not know where to even begin in regards to putting it to practice? So our dilemma as ministers is how do we get our people to go beyond being hearers of the word to being doers also as it says in the book of James?

We see here in Luke 5:1-3 that the crowd were pressing in to hear the word of God and Jesus taught them standing on Simon's boat. In verse 4 Jesus now tests Simon to see if he really got it. Simon's response like many of us is he separated the natural from the spiritual. The bible is the manual for life. The purpose for spiritual revelation is to learn how to live supernaturally here on earth.

It is so easy to get people excited with our teaching, but I have found that very few do anything with it. God has given us His Word to increase our faith. Faith is a verb meaning action. So if we are not applying what we are hearing with faith we will use our human reasoning to justify our inaction and God's ways will not be established in our lives.

Jesus tells Peter in verse 4 to let down his net to catch some fish, Peter says in verse 5 but I have worked hard all night and haven't caught anything, but against his reasoning, by faith he let's down his net in verse 6 and immediately he has more fish than he knows what to do with.When we obey God's word, His Spirit moves, and supernatural results follow. We will always have limitations separate from God, but when we follow His lead there are no limitations.

If we as leaders want to make disciples we need to test people on His word so that they can see how great God can move, and break free from the limitations they have put on themselves. People must see faith at work if they are going to be willing to follow. Preaching alone may draw a crowd, but to me it don't matter the amount of hearers one has it matters the amount of doers. This can only come if we give opportunity for the Word to come alive by providing illustrations that display God's power at work allowing others to step out in faith so what was taught can now be caught. For we see in verse 11, that these ones who witnessed this left everything and followed Jesus.