When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Luke 5:8 NABRE
Jesus is teaching along the coast of the Sea of Gennesaret (also called the Sea of Galilee) and attracts such a large crowd He relies on the boats of a fisherman to take Him off shore to teach. After teaching He tells the fishermen who are the boat owners to drop their nets. Simon who is the “captain” tells Jesus they have fished all night with no response but at His command they will drop their nets. The catch is overwhelming and takes other boats to help bring the fish to shore. At this point in the story Simon recognizes Jesus as “Lord” a term of deep respect, often used to address God in the Hebrew Scriptures. It is this recognition that enlightens Simon to see perfection, Jesus is the perfect, holy man. In recognizing Jesus as Lord, Simon also recognizes his own imperfection and more pointedly he sees his own sinfulness. An example of this imperfection can be seen when riding a car; if we are traveling away from the sun our windshield looks clean and we can see through it perfectly. However travel in that same car directly toward the sun, the brightness of the sun will show ever stain, dirt spot and water mark that was unseen previously. It is when we are moving toward the light that imperfection is illuminated. This is Simon’s experience in the story, after listening to Jesus and following His command Simon recognizes Jesus as Lord and he feels unworthy to be near Him.
We are called to travel towards Jesus, and often when we do we see our imperfections. We can read story after story of someone who we would consider perfect, a saint, declaring their own sinfulness. It surprises us until we drawn near Jesus ourselves.
Are you travelling toward the light? What are your imperfections that may be called sins?
We are called to travel towards Jesus, and often when we do we see our imperfections. We can read story after story of someone who we would consider perfect, a saint, declaring their own sinfulness. It surprises us until we drawn near Jesus ourselves. Click To Tweet#bible #godisgreat #jesus #christianity #dailybibleverse @youversion #BeAnEncourager #sin #light #Luke #everybodyalways #god #jesuschrist #jesussaves #godisgood #dailydevotion #biblestudy #scripture #bibleverse #verseoftheday #cross #last #gospels #loveeachother #godisgreat #thisVineyard #youversion #everythingalways