TEXT: Luke 5:1-6
TITLE: TOTAL COMMITMENT
We say we are committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. How committed? Total commitment means that Jesus Christ is Lord in every area of our lives. He must be Lord on Saturday night as well as Sunday morning. He must be Lord of our bodies as well as our brains. He must be Lord of what we save as well as what we sacrifice. He must be lord of our careers as well as our creed. Are we totally committed to Jesus Christ? Is He Lord of all?
At the beginning of Luke 5, we see that Peter is on the beach washing his fishing nets. When we come to verse 11 we see that Peter has left his boat, his nets, and everything to follow the Lord. A miracle takes place because of Peter’s commitment. When we totally commit to the Lord great things will happen. Miracles come as a result of commitment. The steps Peter took to total commitment are the steps we need to take to total commitment and seeing the miracles of God take place.
The first step is “getting involved.” Peter is willing to let Jesus use his boat. Luke 4:38 would indicate that Peter already knew the Lord at this time, but until now he has been content just to hear the Word of God while continuing his normal way of living (vs. 1 & 2).
This is a picture of many Christians today! Know the Lord? Yes! Willing to listen to the Word of God? Yes! (They like to hear good preaching but they don’t want to get to involved.) But not much change in life-style. In fact, from their lives it is hard to differentiate them from non-Christians trying to get ahead in this world, of all things. Many just want to wash nets. They don’t want to get involved.
The second step to total commitment is to “turn our boat over to the Lord.” We like Peter must be willing to turn over what we own to the Lord for His use. We own things. We own time. We own talent. Are we willing to share what we own with the Lord?
Are we willing to turn over our homes to the Lore? Are we willing to make time available for the Lord’s use? Are we willing to invest our abilities and talents and gifts, or should we go on “hoarding” them?
It is hypocrisy to speak of total commitment to the Lord when we are not willing to turn over our “boats” to Him.
The third step the Lord wants us to learn about total commitment is to “…put {push} out a little” (v. 3). It is one thing to take what we own and make it available for the Lord’s use, but it is another thing to step out a little by faith from the “security of the land.”
Let us not only open our room or home for a Bible study, but let us actually start one!
Let us not only make our weekends available for the Lord, but let us actually take on a Sunday School class as a teacher or substitute or become a Royal Ranger commander or Missionettes teacher.
Let us not only make available our money to help spread the gospel but let us actually verbalize the gospel!
Yes, it takes faith to “push out”. There is a risk and sacrifice involved, but that’s what pushing out from land is all about.
Jesus does not force Peter to “push out”: He asks him (v. 3). He will not force us to get involved but He wants to bless us with a miracle and for that to happen we need to “push out.”
He wanted Peter to get a piece of the action. He chooses to teach people out of Peter’s boat. God would teach us here that He delights 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.
