Matthew 13:47 – Once again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a net…

Jesus spent much of His time with fishermen and around fishing. He spend His time around the shores and lakes. Fishing is a Biblical sport. Fishermen did not use the kind of tools we have available to us today, they did however use giant nets to catch the fish. Sometimes these nets would be 20ft – 300ft in length, taking up to 16 men working together to cast the net. They would go out to the deep, drop the net with weights on the end of them, and slowly drag it to shore hoping to catch many fish. Jesus said the Kingdom is like a net. So I started thinking what does the net represent? Well in order to catch all that God has for us we need to have a net. And what catches the blessings, miracles, and destiny God has for us? FAITH! Faith is what catches the things of God in our life. Jesus was moved by faith. He was impressed by faith. It wasn’t knowledge Jesus was moved by it was raw faith that caused the Son of God to do miraculous things! So the net represents our FAITH! We are called to use our faith to catch the plans and provisions that God has for us. We are fisherman called to catch the things of God.

So what lessons can we learn about the net that represents our faith? What is so extraordinary about a net that the Kingdom of Heaven is like it? What do we need to catch in order to understand this concept of THE NET? So here are some lessons about the net that we can learn about our faith…

1. Net Must Be MENDED

Matthew 4:21 – Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them…

Nets can get damaged after use. If there are holes in the net one will not catch as many fish. The more holes the more fish can escape. Fishermen would take very good care of their net by examining it closely after each use. They would look for any tears in the net that needed to be mended. Our faith is the same, we must not allow our faith to break. When our faith is torn we are in danger of missing the things God has for us. I call it the, FAITH GAP. When what could be is not yet we can easily forget that God is working behind the set. All of us deal with the FAITH GAP. We see what could be, we believe what could be, we want what could be, but get discouraged by where we actually are. Instead of having faith for the future we become distraught with the present. When there is no faith for the future there is no power in the present! Faith needs attention and care. It needs to stay strong in the midst of the storms and unforeseen things that happen in life. Corrie Ten Boom said, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

One of the biggest ways our faith gets torn is by FEAR! Fear is the enemy of faith, it attacks our faith. The word fear comes from the Old English word Faer, meaning sudden ambush or attack. That is exactly what fear does it ambushes our faith! Instead of stepping out in faith we shrink back in panic when fear strikes. Fear puts holes in our faith. We have to mend our faith when it gets broken. We have to stay strong and walk by faith not by sight. When we walk by sight we become a spiritual roller coaster, going up and down, up and down! However, when we walk by faith we are not shaken by the sight of things around us, we trust that God is ALWAYS working behind the set. He is the one in control and we can trust that His ways are good and His ways are BEST! Hellen Keller said, “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” Do you have vision for the future? Do you have faith that God is bigger than what is happening around you?

So what areas do you need to mend in your faith? What are some things that you are having a hard time believing God for? I challenge you to mend your faith and get your faith net ready for what God has in store.

Lesson # 2. Nets Must Be WASHED

Luke 5:1-2

So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.

Nets have to be PROTECTED from the debris and junk that clogs them up. A net must be able to glide through the water easily with no resistance. So our faith has to be protected from sin and negativity. When sin clogs our faith we miss out on catching God’s plans for our life. Yes, as followers of Christ we are still going to heaven when we confess with our mouth and believe in our heart that Jesus is Lord, but our life on earth may or may not be all it can be depending on our faith. You can still be going to heaven and live a bleak life. Negativity can get in our faith and cause us to not experience the abundant life Jesus talked about. We have to keep our faith pure from the junk that tries to attach itself to us.

We have to live a holy life that lines up with God’s plans. We must obey what God has called us to do. Holiness is about living a pure life. Pure living is about obeying all of God’s commands. We don’t get to pick and choose what we follow, we have to follow ALL of God’s commands. Yes, there is grace, but grace is not a license to sin. Grace is not a pass to fly off the handle and disobey what God has called us to do. Our faith must be holy and pure. In order to keep our faith holy and pure we have to live a holy life protected from the slime of the enemy. We can’t overlook the things in our life that are ugly. We must address the things in our life that shouldn’t be there. Making excuses for our sin is no excuse at all, it is a crutch. We always need to strive to be more Christ-like in all we do, in every area of our life. That means the way we treat people affects our faith, our attitude affects our faith, our sin done in the secret affects our faith. Mother Teresa said, “Holiness does not consist in doing extraordinary things. It consists in accepting, with a smile, what Jesus sends us. It consists in accepting and following the will of God.”

So what areas in your life do you need to wash and get clean? What area in your life could be holding your faith back? When we have a clean net, our faith is able to catch more of what God has for us.

Lesson #3 – Nets Must Be CAST

Luke 5:4

When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

Nets are made to be cast. A net does no good sitting in the boat collecting dust. You can spend all your time mending your net, washing you net, but if you don’t cast your net it will never do what it has the potential to do…CATCH FISH! Our faith is the same. Our faith is about using it, not just having it. Faith without action is dead. The Bible says this about faith…

James 2:17

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Faith that is not used and practiced is as good as dead. It just sits in the boat collecting spiritual dust. Jesus told the disciples to cast their nets and GO! We have to put our faith into action and believe God for great things! When the disciples were fishing close to shore they didn’t catch ANYTHING! They spent all their time without catching one fish. But when Jesus said, “Launch out into the deep…” they didn’t think anything would happen.

Luke 5:5

Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

Simon thought it would be a waste of time going out to the deep, but they went anyway. Sometimes God will call us to go out into the deep. It can be scary in the deep, it can be uncomfortable in the deep, it can take time to go out to the deep. But the deep is where the big fish are at. You don’t catch big fish in the shallow, you catch big fish in the deep! If you want to catch the big things from God, you have to go out to the deep end. You have to step out into uncharted territory! When the disciples went out to the deep and cast their nets they caught an abundance of fish! So many they thought their nets would tear! You see, when we go where God is telling us to go the provision is ALREADY there! The disciples would have missed the fish if they stayed close to shore doing what they were doing. But when they listened to Christ and went where He told them to go, ALL the fish were waiting for them! God has what you need waiting for you if you will step out and go where He is calling you to go. On our own strength we will never catch what God has, but when we tune into God’s frequency and follow Him we will have ALL we need!

What are you believing God for? What are you stepping out into the “deep?”  Are you listening to God’s direction in every area of your life? God will give you wisdom in each area of your life: Finances, career, relationships, struggles, addictions, business deal, etc…

 Lesson #4 – Nets Must Be DRAWN

It is not enough to just cast a net, it must also be drawn in, in order to get the fish. So our faith has to be drawn in. What do I mean by drawn in? I mean to be patient…it takes time to draw in a net. When the fishermen of Jesus’ day would cast their nets these were no small nets. It was a long process to drag a 20ft – 300ft net in from the deep to shore. We have to have patience when it comes to our faith. Just because we don’t see results immediately does not mean God is not working.

I went fly fishing for the 1st time the other day with my father-in-law. I had more fun learning how to cast the line than I did reeling it in and catching fish. We can’t throw our net (faith) in the deep and expect to catch something right away, sometimes it takes time. I am a pretty impatient guy at times and it is hard for me to wait and especially when I fish. I tend to throw the line and reel it in to fast. I don’t give the fish enough time to bite. Our faith works the same way, we have to have endurance! I love what Hebrews says…

Hebrews 12:1-3

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

We must run with perseverance, that means hang in there! Don’t grow weary and lose heart when you are believing God. Philosopher Thomas Carlyle said,  “Endurance is patience concentrated.” The ability to “hang in there” is one of the toughest, yet rewarding traits to have. Our impatience can cause us to steam ahead and damage what could have been if we had been patient. It is like the Captain who ran too far ahead of the Calvary and was mistaken for an Indian, it didn’t turn out too well for him! Be in step with God’s timing. Don’t rush your faith. Make sure you stay the course and draw in your faith net in order to catch what God has for you! I wonder how close we are to catching the fish God has for us but we pull our faith out too soon. Just because you aren’t seeing results immediately does not mean God is not working! All things will unfold when they are supposed to if you are in God’s timing! Don’t go by your watch, go by God’s watch. Patience is about TRUST…Do you trust that God is in control? Do you trust that He is leading you?

Then keep calm and let your faith continue on!