Dear Friends,

READ: LUKE 5:1 THROUGH 6:49

The sun glinted off the Sea of Galilee as Jesus sat in Simon’s boat, teaching the people on the shore. Jesus’ other disciples, weary from a long, fruitless night of fishing, stayed on the shore washing their nets.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4).

Simon clearly had his doubts. Hadn’t he and the others just spent all night out there without catching anything? His experience as a lifelong fisherman told him that to obey Jesus would be a foolish waste of time. But his fledgling faith in Jesus nudged him to obey anyway, and he was shocked at the result—the catch of a lifetime.

A believer’s faith must be based on God’s character, not on one’s life experiences. Human reasoning looks at the facts, but faith isn’t concerned with the facts. It is concerned with the truth. When a person knows the One who is truth, he can confidently head for the deep water expecting a great catch.

Thought for Today: Truth combined with faith and patience will always triumph over the facts.