One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”

“Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.”

And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.

When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.” For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.

Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus. (Luke 5:1-11)

Jesus paid his debts. When Jesus borrowed one of Peter’s boats as a platform for speaking to the crowd, he was not keeping Peter from doing his job. Fishermen did not fish during the daylight hours—they went out at night, when the fish were easier to catch. During the day, they sorted through the previous night’s catch and cleaned and repaired their nets. Sitting in Peter’s boat to teach the crowd, Jesus was not interfering with Peter’s livelihood.

Nevertheless, Jesus had “hired” Peter’s boat and so paid for it by telling Peter to go fishing. In response, Peter addressed him as “master.” The Greek word was merely an honorific. But after the fish had been caught, Peter used a different word. “Lord” was used exclusively of God by the Jewish people of that era. With an enormous catch of fish in his nets, Peter responded to Jesus with fear, bowing before the Almighty.

Jesus compensated Peter generously for the boat. But then he went beyond that and offered him a better job: a position in the Kingdom of God. When we give Jesus our lives, he gives us himself and all that he has.

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