...he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets."
I have been told on good authority that there are at least two things fishermen hate: someone watching them while they fish, and someone telling them how to fish. Of these two sins, the latter is the greater.
I suspect that many of us have shared the sentiment expressed by Peter: "we have worked all night long but have caught nothing". This sentiment can go one of two ways. It can be the expression of frustration after a long and honest effort which seems to bear no fruit. Or it can have that fisherman's look of "don't tell me how to do my work, and lest you think I've been slack, let me tell you just how hard I've been working." How easy it is, when confronted by Jesus with the inadequacy of our efforts, to fall into a self-justifying expression. But look! I've been working hard all night! Don't accuse me of feeble efforts. And I know my business; this is after all, my trade and craft.
Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.
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