Bringing Your Ship to Land
“And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.” Luke 5:11
No matter how many times I studied or heard preached how Jesus called a bunch of fishermen who were to become His disciples to go out into the deep water and fish despite the night they had spent catching nothing, I always saw and heard the same great messages – the importance of launching into the deep and the need for obedience no matter what things look like. Then, one day, the Lord led me back to the verses and showed me something I had never noticed before and placed a message in my heart for myself and only He knows how many others.
Before the fishermen forsook all and followed Jesus, they had to bring their ships to land. Obvious, eh? Note the Bible doesn’t just say “they finished fishing,” or jump ahead into their forsaking all. It specifically says they brought their ships to land. Why not cut to the chase? The significance? The men were to become His disciples with an awesome calling to serve Him by fishing for men – in other words, helping souls to be healed and saved. But FIRST, they had to bring their ships to land. I don’t know about anyone else, but I believe there is a message in here for me – and maybe for you.
I have a tendency to always want to run ahead, to push forward, to get going, and, yes, even in serving God, to get to the good stuff, so to speak. I jumped into ministry long before God wanted me to, and once in ministry, I have oftentimes rushed ahead with an idea or project long before it was time not to mention if I even really knew if it was God’s will. There have been countless times God wanted me to return my ship to land, so to speak, to finish what I was doing at the time, before moving ahead with whatever His will for me was. Seeking and hearing from the Lord before launching out in whatever His will is must come first, waiting to hear from Him is key, and returning our ships to land before pressing forward must be taken into account.
Don’t forget to bring your ship to land. Seek the Lord!