The blessing of inconvenience

"He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon and asked him to put out a little way from the shore." Luke 5:3

Once upon a time, three fishermen were washing their nets beside a lake called Gennesaret. They had gone out to fish the previous night and tried their best all night to get a catch. However, their attempts were futile and yielded no result. Despite their hard work all through the night, the fishermen returned empty handed. They had two boats, one that belonged to a man called Simon and the other that belonged to James and his brother John. Meanwhile, Jesus was standing beside the same lake and the crowd around Him were pressing in on Him to hear the word of God.

Jesus noticed these two empty boats on the shore as well as the fishermen who were outside the boat washing their nets. He got into the boat that belonged to Simon and asked him to draw the boat a little away from the shore. Once the boat was a little way from the shore, Jesus sat down in the boat and started teaching the crowd.

Now I want you to notice a few things about Jesus from Simon’s point of view. Simon had guided the boat ashore after a long night’s work. He was now cleaning up and getting ready to shut shop. At this point in time, Jesus gets into his boat and asks him to put out a little way from the shore.

Notice the etiquette:
Notice that Jesus did not ask Simon first and then get into the boat. Jesus got into the boat first and then asked Simon. Talk about etiquettes! I wouldn’t be very pleased if you behaved that way with me. It’s only polite to request my permission first and let me know why you need me to put my boat out.

By,
Sujith Alex