Total Commitment

to use us for His glory if we just step out a little bit by faith. But we love the security of the land. We are reluctant to move away from shore. How can we talk about total commitment to Jesus if we are not willing to “push out a little.”?

The fourth step toward total commitment is in verse
4. Peter is told to “launch out into the deep.” Here is total dependence on the Lord. No more land or shallow water! It is here where commitment is no longer a sideline. In many ways, it is the point of no return. It is here that we are totally given over to doing God’s work. It is here where He becomes the priority of our lives.

My life is no longer planned with land in view. I am ready to launch out into whatever it is that the Lord wants me to do. I will no longer be an observer but a participant. It is no longer what I want but what he wants. It is no longer my will that is important but what His will is that is important. It is no longer my desires that are important but what He desires that is important. Life is no longer about me but about Him.

It is in the deep that we experience the lord’s power. We learn that He really does provide in a miraculous way for the very needs that may have held us back from total commitment?

We may “work all night” to make it in this life and still “catch nothing” (v. 5). But the person who is totally committed to the Lord does not “sweat” the needs of this life. He knows that if he seeks first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all these things will be provided (see Matthew 6:33).

Maybe the reason we as a church are not catching a lot of fish (people for the Lord) is because there is a lack of commitment on our part.

It is in the deep that we learn to worship. Jesus is no longer just “a friend invited into my life.” He is God! When Peter experienced the Lord’s power in the deep, he was not only amazed (v. 8), but fell down before Jesus & confessed, “I am a sinful man, O Lord!” The more committed we are to Jesus, the more we are aware of our sinfulness & His holiness.

Peter had reached the point of no return. He left everything & followed his Lord. Yes, there were failures yet to come in Peter’s life. Total commitment does not mean perfection. It’s a matter of taking self off every throne of life & enthroning Jesus. How committed are you to Jesus? Have you “pushed out a little”? Have you “launched out into the deep”? Or are you still hung up on the beach? Total commitment means Jesus if Lord of all.