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How God Gets Us Ready to Be
His Workers - Lk. 5:1-11

Preparation is important, especially in the Lord's work

Introduction

1. Text: Lk. 5:1-11.

2. Preparation is important to any work, especially when the work is the Lord's.

3. But what it takes to get ready to do effective work in the Lord is often contrary to the world's idea of readiness.

4. The miracle recorded in Lk. 5:1-11 gives us an indication of how the Lord prepared the men who became His apostles to begin their preparation!

I. OUR TENDENCY TO DOUBT

1. Because our perspective is so much more limited than God's, His will for us often seems unwise to us - vv.4,5.

   1. God's way often seems "counter-intuitive."

   2. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" (Prov. 14:12).

2. If we only obey when God's will coincides with our judgment, then our "obedience" will not really be obedience. We will be following our own wisdom and our own will, rather than God's.

II. FAITH'S WILLINGNESS TO ACT

1. To Peter's credit he was willing to do as the Lord said -- just because it was the Lord speaking! "Nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net" (v.5).

   1. God's will is not to be judged in terms of what we predict to be the consequences of an action.

   2. God's will is not to be defined in terms of what we think is reasonable.

2. The very essence of "faith" is that we obey, based on our trust that God knows what He's doing - Prov. 3:5,6.

3. Faith's governing principle is that it always does good to do good -- and good is always defined as whatever the Lord commands.

III. THE GREATNESS OF GOD'S PROVISION

1. When we are willing to act in faith, God brings about results that far exceed our expectations - vv.6,7.

2. God richly blesses those who are willing to trust Him - Eph. 3:20,21.

3. We need a greater vision of what God can do through His faithful people - Eph. 1:18-20.

IV. THE IMPORTANCE OF REVERENCE AND HUMILITY

1. The proper response to demonstrations of God's power is reverence - v.8.

2. To catch even a glimpse of God's glory is to be reminded of our own unworthiness - Isa. 6:1-13.

3. It is often those who have been guilty of great failure in life, but have finally learned reverence and humility, that end up being the most effective workers - 1 Cor. 15:9,10.

V. READINESS TO LEARN GOD'S WORK

1. When our hearts have been prepared by reverence and humility, then we are ready to be taught how to be God's workers - vv.9-11.

2. Discipleship involves the willingness to be "trained" - Hb. 12:11. Cf. Eph. 6:4; 1 Tim. 4:7,8.

Conclusion

1. It is often our "self-confidence" that keeps us from doing what we should do in the Lord -- and that keeps God from being able to accomplish His purposes through us.

2. If we suppose that we are doing God a favor by offering our services to Him, we are not yet ready to be His workers - Mt. 3:7-10.

3. May we make whatever changes we need to make in order to be prepared for the Lord's work - 2 Tim. 2:21.