OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL-WEDNESDAY-20/07/2016-CALLED UNTO GREATNESS-BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE
CALLED UNTO GREATNESS
Memorise
And
so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with
Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch
men. Luke 5:10
Read
Luke 5:1-10,
1And it came to pass, that, as
the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of
Gennesaret,
2 And
saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them,
and were washing their nets.
3 And
he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he
would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people
out of the ship.
4 Now
when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and
let down your nets for a draught.
5 And
Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have
taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
6 And
when they had this done, they in closed a great multitude of fishes: and their
net brake.
7 And they
beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should
come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they
began to sink.
8 When
Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, depart from me; for I
am a sinful man, O Lord.
9 For
he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes
which they had taken:
10 And
so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with
Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch
men.
KJV
MESSAGE
There is
something special about the call of God from generation to generation and from
dispensation to dispensation. For example, in Genesis, when God made a call
among the Trinity about the creation of man, something great came out of that
call and that is the uniqueness of man as a special creation. It should be
remembered that there was no call at all when other creatures were being
created. After the fall, there were many generations up to the time of Abram
and when God called Abram and changed his name to Abraham, his life never
remained the same.
In our Bible reading for today, we read about the call
of Peter into the office of apostleship. When at the lake of Gennesaret, Peter
had no idea of awesomeness of the call when Jesus said to him: “Fear not, from
henceforth thou shalt catch men.” (Luke 5:10). Peter, an ordinary
fisherman, became great as a result of this ‘simple’ call. Many Cathedrals have
been built and named after Peter, the frustrated fisherman before his encounter
with Jesus. One can see that a single encounter with Jesus can make a great
difference in one’s life. Jesus is calling someone today as you read this
devotional and He is saying:
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek
and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
Matthew 11:28-29
To have a
profitable encounter with Jesus, certain things must be done. You must answer
His call. He is calling you to follow Him, but you must not just follow Him,
you must learn of Him, and all the ideals He brought from His father must be
imbibed by you. Jesus said:
“My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any
man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or
whether I speak of myself.”
John 17:16-17
Learning of
Jesus entails living according to how He lived here on earth. His life of
obedience to the will of His Father must be emulated. The Bible enjoins us to
have the same mind like Christ (Philippians 2:5-11), and we shall
experience great elevation like Jesus did. God is calling us to be like Him; He
wants to make us great. May we not refuse His call today; firstly for salvation
and secondly for service.
Action Point
What area do you think God
is calling you into? Answer Him now and be blessed.
Bible in one year
Galatians 1-3, Psalms 17
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