On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. …. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” … And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.    Luke 5:1-11 (ESV)

I love the sea.   I draw a great deal of inspiration from my time of being around the sea, along with catching up on some fresh seafood.  As I write this devotional, I do so after having spent some time on a Florida beach.  It is winter, so the beach is relatively deserted of tourists, which delights me.  There's a reason.  It can be cold one day and nice the next.  Even so, I love it.  I love the food, the “real” locals, the beauty of the sun bouncing its rays off the water, and the sounds of seagulls calling to each other.  Can there be a better place to enjoy rest, recovery and recreation?  Not for me.

Having lived for several years on the Southern Gulf Coast, I am experienced with gigging flounders, running crab traps, speckled trout and redfish fishing.  I've camped on barren islands in the Gulf, wade-fished in their surf, had sharks swim through my legs to steal a fish off my hook, and have been boat-wrecked at one time on one of these islands.  I've gathered oysters from an inland lagoon at low tide and shucked the oysters for dinner around a campfire while on one of these barrier islands in the Gulf.  However, I am only a hobbyist when it comes to living off the sea.  However, I think you can understand that I could appreciate what a professional fishermen must do day in and day out to make a living from the sea.  It is hard, dangerous work and not something I would want to do for a living.  A lot has changed about the industry, the people and the area I once lived in and it makes me sad to see these changes.  But, it made quite an impression on me while I lived there.

When I lived on the Mississippi Gulf coast back in the 70’s and 80’s, most of the fishermen of that day were 3^rd  or 4^thgeneration European immigrants who settled in the area and became shrimpers, oyster harvesters or worked in the seafood industry in some way.  They lived a hard life, and were hardened by their work and the elements they had to overcome in order to make a living.  Families were tight-knit in the “Back-Bay” area of Biloxi.  Not many outsiders made it into the tight circles formed by these families.  If you did, you were special, and when you were accepted, a lifelong bond of friendship was formed.  Even so, you knew never to treat one of these men unfair, for “your enemy is my enemy” is a code these close-knit families lived by.  I'm probably describing a multitude of other ethnic communities across our nation who live by a similar code.  I'm also likely describing a similar code the fishermen, Peter, James, John and Andrew must have lived by before Christ walked into their life.  You see, being typical professional fisherman, their's is a culture most other fishermen around the world have lived by for centuries.  It helps to understand the culture these guys came from, and especially Peter, to understand how Christ so drastically altered their lives.  These men not only left their boats to follow Christ, they also left a way of life, a way of thinking, a way of acting, and the tight-knit, independent code they had lived by all of their lives, along with the comfort of a well-established, predictable culture.  It is obvious that there was a compelling reason for these men to take that first step in sojourning with Christ, and then never return to being the men they once were?  What could it have been?  Let's take Simon Peter for example:

If you were to meet one of those good ole boys I spoke of who lived on Back Bay Biloxi, you would likely meet a good representation of Simon the fisherman, before Christ changed him.  Our guy would be impatient to offload his catch of the day, so don't expect much conversation, and don't get in his way or you'll hear expletives that will curl your ears and make a Marine D. I. envious. The fact is, he wouldn't talk much anyway even on a good day, except to friends, for the man is bigoted against the outsiders I mentioned.  However, his shunning of you wouldn't be about race, for he is an equal opportunity bigot and color doesn't matter.  It would be because you didn't grow up on “da Bay,” and unless you are in his tight circle, he has no time for you.  Likewise, Simon, the fisherman, was a bigot against outsiders.  He hated Gentiles, tax-collectors, Romans and inland mariners with good ideas about fishing.  Can you imagine how Simon would react if just any inland carpenter told him how to fish by telling him to go back out to the place he had just left to lower his nets in the deep water?  If it had been you or me, he would likely have used us for bait, for it would be what our guy“Bubba from da Bay” would do!  Can you imagine how a person with this mindset would react if he had fished all night without making a catch, only to have an outsider tell him how to fish?  Man, it would be ugly by the time he unleashed his anger on us.  Therefore, Jesus must have made a terrific impression with His sermon in Simon's boat, based on the way he reacted to Christ's suggestion to go back out to the deep water?  Simon didn't show anger, although he did show doubt that Jesus knew what He was talking about.  This respect in itself would be a departure from the norm, and is an indication that Simon (Peter) was taking a baby step in the right direction, which was rewarded greatly.  And this step in the right direction was followed up by many more steps in the right direction, as Simon followed Christ for the rest of his life and became Peter.

There is an interesting indication what Jesus would do with Simon the fisherman from the time He first met him.  Look at the following verse and see if you pick it up:

… Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). John 1: 42 (ESV)

Now grab these particular words from the text: “You are Simon… you shall be ....”  Although I think the nickname Jesus gave to Peter was personal and special as with the others who were nicknamed by Him, I believe Jesus was indicating something far deeper would happen to Peter than just giving him a nickname.  I believe Jesus in essence was saying:

“Simon, you are at present a hard nose, stubborn bigot who has been intimidating others throughout your life, and you have greatly limited your influence because of it.  You are a natural born leader, for people are drawn to your confidence and courage, but you will lead them astray if you yourself are not led rightly. Simon, you are all of these things and they will stand against the great capabilities you could have.  But, and this is a big but, I will change these things about you.  Yes, I receive you as you are right now and I require only your faith.  But, you must not remain the way you are. Simon, in asking you to join Me, I do not see these present things about you as standing in the way of My love for you, for I see the Peter who will one day overcome his prejudice and reach to the Gentiles.  I see the Peter who will lead a Roman officer to know and embrace Me.  I see the Peter who will stand before a large gathering of people and share his faith so convincingly that over 3,000 will come to know Me.  I see the Peter who will stand down the religious holier-than-thou leaders of this day, as they connect that you have been with Me.  I see the Peter who will honor me in his death by asking to be crucified upside down because he doesn't count himself worthy to share My own crucifixion.  I see the Peter, I will one day build my Church on. Simon, you will be this Rock, and this man will be a man after My own heart.  You are right now Simon.  But, you will one day be Peter My Rock, when I transform you into this man.”

Simon was transformed by Christ into Peter, and we know the rest of the story.  But, it doesn't stop with Peter.  It can go to “Bubba at da Bay,” and you and me as well.  If it could happen with Simon Peter, it could happen with the most unlikely person.  What did Simon do to become the man Jesus made of him?  He took a baby step in the right direction, and followed it up with some other steps in faith.  It required a little faith to get it started.  But even a little faith can move mountains.  So, come on.  Get out of the boat, and take that baby step toward Jesus. There's a Peter in you wanting to emerge from the Bubba that you now are, and it starts with that first step you will take toward Christ.  So, come on Bubba, take the step.

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums.  And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.  And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

                                                                                                                               Mark 12:41-44 (ESV)

I have several friends regarded as wealthy by the world's standards, but much more so, they are wealthy by Heaven's standards.  They are generous with their great resources, with their time and with their encouragement to all people.  They never measure another man by his financial status, nor consider their wealth to be a determiner of their true value.  They are as satisfied hanging out with a blue color laborer, as they are with a Fortune 500 CEO ... maybe more so.  These men are wealthy in ways the world cannot understand, for they are royalty because they are joint heirs with Jesus Christ, and a member of the Royal Priesthood.  If you haven't heard this term before, look it up in 1 Peter 2:9.  It will help you understand my illustration. 

I also have several friends who are regarded as poor by the world's standard, but by Heaven's standard they are rich, for they are also of royalty.  They are generous with their time and their limited resources.  They envy no man because of his wealth, for they too do not value others or themselves based on net worth.  In fact, they would rather live in their poverty than to become wealthy, if it means they would lose the joy that permeates their life.  Their's is a richness the world cannot understand, and certainly does not give them.  In common with the rich man and the poor man are the riches Christ has given to them that are not limited by being subject to theft, the reversal of the economy, or the fluctuations of the best investment strategy a money manager can design.  They have the Treasure of the Universe, they put their trust in Heaven's Treasury, and nothing, I mean nothing can compare with it.  How about you?  If you say you are a disciple of Christ, does the way you use your wealth or poverty prove it?  Where does your treasure really lie?   Based on the example of the poor widow andthe way she used her poverty (or was it wealth), it is obvious that Jesus had an opinion about her, and it was good.  What is His opinion of you, which is something we should seek His answer on?

Then there is another set of acquaintances that are as greedy and self seeking as anyone out there.  What is in common with these men is their love of money and their willingness to use and discard anyone to build and protect their fortune.  They have an insatiable desire to accumulate as much wealth as possible, even though it is more than they could ever spend.  It would be hard to separate the style of these men, for they are narcissistic, consumed by their “above others status,” and benevolent only if it is a good tax break, business deal, or puts their name on a building.  They look and act like birds of the same feather.  But what is different about them is that one man declares there is no God and lives his life for himself because of it.  The other man declares there is a God and is a Christ follower, but he also lives life for himself and acts as if his relationship with Christ and the stewardship of God's resources entrusted to him are irrelevant.  Of the two, it is this last guy that I pity more, for he is as impoverished as anyone can be and doesn't realize it.  He is like a man swimming with a load of gold over deep water, and his gold will eventually drown him unless he releases it.  Like I said, I pity this person, for he lives in spiritual poverty, and no matter how much wealth he accumulates, the path he travels will lead to great disappointment.  Concerning this man and people like him, I get really upset when I see churches and other ministries courting these rich men like a beggar would, hoping he will throw some of his riches their way.  They are less concerned with his heart condition, than his money.  Wouldn't Jesus rather we were more interested in the man's soul than his pocketbook?  If we were, he might get a clear message that we place no greater value on him than we do the poor woman who can give only a penny.  Both the rich man and the Church need to reevaluate our perspective toward wealth, and take a lesson from Christ and the widow.

The truth is, I think God's family needs to look at Christ's view of the use of wealth, rather than allow Madison Avenue or wealthy celebrities to dictate our perspective.  When I recall the different stories and try to think of the person that stands out the most to me as faithful with their fortune, it would be the widow who had only a penny to give, but gave it.  Yes, I did say “fortune” even though it was only a penny, for this penny represented a fortune to her.  But, what else did that penny represent, and what can we learn from the widow?  Consider:

The Widow's Penny represents a true sacrificial gift.  Note Jesus informed His disciples that what she put in the offering box was everything she had, even all she had to live on.

The Widow's Penny represents absolute trust in God.  When she gave her last penny, she also gave her last vestige of hope in the world's resources, so that she could receive God's provisions in return.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose?” 

Doesn't it make sense in order to face a sad situation that causes us grief, we are comforted in believing God has a plan in place, and the situation we are in will eventually work for good in our life?  To believe this when we are in the grief process requires a religious courage which is found only with our hope in God and His good plan.  And, by believing in God's promises to us, we can also know that there will be a return of our laughter, a smile will return to our face, and there is hope behind the veil of darkness that presently overwhelms us.  It is this hope that breaks through and creates a good grief in our life, and causes us to embrace it in a way that it becomes a blessing rather than a perceived curse.  I understand firsthand how it can become a blessing, if we will allow God to walk us through the grief process.

 I grew up with a Dad who I saw cry only once, and that is when his Dad died.  After all, “Real men don't cry, right?”, or so we were told.  Since I was only seven years old at the time, I had a free pass with my tears and didn't feel like a sissy.  But, I had enough savvy to know that what I was seeing with my father was also permitted, for he was a man's man in every way.  Watching him weep over his father's casket was the beginning for me in seeing the process of grief in action, as I saw my father embrace it and work through it.  Twenty two years later, I was weeping over his casket as they laid his body beneath the ground in the same cemetery where my grandparents were buried.  My grief process lasted almost two years, as the bitter sweet memories of my times with him and the hope of heaven for both of us, inspired the necessary religious courage to turn it to good grief.  You see, it was also the time that God invited me to an intimacy with Him I had never experienced before.  I will never forget that September night in Mississippi after I had raced to his home after my father's death in an industrial accident.  All my family was inside the house comforting each other.  I needed space and walked alone to the garden he had grown during the summer.  Being alone, I could really belt out my agony.  While doing so I asked God, “What will I do without my Daddy?  I still need him in my life.”  Not expecting an answer, I was surprised by the gentle comfort that fell over me.  As I knelt in the grass that night and bowed my head, I heard words spoken to my heart as never before.  I heard, “I will be your Daddy from now on.”  When I left the field and went into the house, everyone sensed I had been given a new hope and comfort, and my grief had turned to a good grief.  For the next two years, I grew in my fellowship and intimacy with Christ proportionately with the comfort I received from Him in the grief process I went through.  Indeed, God gave me a good grief and I came to understand something I had never known before that time.  I never knew that another name for God in the Bible is Abba, which means Daddy.  From that night on, God became my Abba as He promised, and it is the relational foundation with Him I stand on 36 years later.  Indeed, all things work for good, even grief, if we love God and we are His child.