This is part of a series studying Peter’s life and ministry.  Click here for the entire series.

Jesus stood beside the Sea of Galilee teaching a crowd of people.  Peter and Andrew stood nearby cleaning and drying their nets after a fishless night of work.  Jesus asked if He could stand in their boat to finish His lesson and the brothers obliged.  When He finished teaching, Jesus asked Peter (probably after picking up Andrew and signaling this business partners James and John to follow in their boat) to push out a little deeper into the lake and throw the still-wet nets into the water to catch fish.

Peter’s mind may have been racing:  “But Lord, we fish at night and not in broad daylight.  Besides, what would a carpenter or stone mason (Mark 6:3) like you know about fishing?”  But Peter had learned to trust Jesus and had been listening to His teaching.  So he followed orders.

It turns out the Builder knew where the fish were after all.  The four fishing partners hauled in enough fish, probably more than a ton, to make both boats nearly sink.

Most fisherman today would haul out their GPS units, take the coordinates of that exact location and return later to fish in that exact spot.  Not Peter.  In awe and fear he fell down at Jesus’ feet and cried out, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8).

He may have heard about or even seen Jesus perform miracles for others but this time the miracle was for Peter.  All he could think about was how sinful he was.

Jesus then called Peter to follow Him, and Peter did.  Just as abruptly Jesus changed Peter’s occupation:  “Don’t be afraid, Simon, from now on you will catch men” (Luke 5:10).  Catching men?  What was Jesus talking about?  In time, Peter would learn.

So, what do we learn about Peter—and ourselves—from this story?  For one thing, he obeyed Jesus, both in taking his boat out into deep water and in following Jesus.  For another, when faced with Jesus’ awesome power, he recognized his own sinfulness.

How do you respond when you believe God asks you to do something that seems impossible?

How do you react when you see God’s power in action, whether in “big” or “little” ways”?