Daily Devotion

The famous water in Galilee is called by three names---the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of Tiberias, and the Lake of Gennesaret. It is thirteen miles long, and eight miles wide. It lies in a dip in the earth's surface and is 680 feet below sea level. In Jesus' days, it had nine townships around its shores, none of fewer than 15,000 people.

 

Here, we confront a turning point in the career of Jesus. The last time we heard Him preach He was in the synagogue; now He is at the lakeside. He will be back in the synagogue again, but the time is coming when the door of the synagogue will be closed to Him. His church will be the lakeside and the open road. He would go anywhere where people would listen to Him. When the synagogue was shut to him, Jesus just took to the open road.

 

There is in this story what we might call a list of the conditions of a miracle: (1) There is the eye that sees, we need the eye that really sees beyond. Many people saw steam raise the lid of a kettle; only James Watt went on to think of a steam engine. Many people saw an apple fall from a tree; only Isaac Newton went on to think out the law of gravity. The earth is full of miracles for the eye that sees. (2) There is the spirit that will make an effort. If Jesus said it, Peter, as tired as he was, he was ready to try again. For most people, the disaster of life is that they give up just one effort too soon. (3) There is the spirit that will attempt what seems hopeless. All the circumstances were unfavorable, but Peter said, "Let circumstances be what they be if you say so, we will try again." If we wait for the perfect set of circumstances we will never begin at all. If we want a miracle, we must take Jesus at His word when He tells us to attempt the impossible.

 

Life Application: Have you ever missed the miracle just because you would not obey Jesus' command? Learn a lesson from Peter; he worked all night and got nothing, but at Jesus' suggestion, he tried again, and there were so many fish that the other boats had to come and help.