Today's Reading: Luke 5:1-11

Daily Lectionary: Judges 7:1-23; Galatians 1:1-24

We toiled all night and took nothing. (Luke 5:5)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Fishing techniques have changed little over the centuries. Peter, James, and John worked all night long and had nothing to show for it. Anyone who has fished knows exactly what that means! Your hard work does not necessarily correspond with any sort of result. The hardest physical work I've ever done was on a fishing boat. Whether I worked hard or took a nap mattered little to the fish in the sea. They either swam into the net or didn't. My work had little to do with that. They were either there or they weren't.

This is exactly how it goes in the Kingdom of God. Have you toiled all night, all day, or for your whole life, and feel like you've got nothing to show for it? Your friends and family see your work, and still don't care about Jesus? Worse yet, do you feel that perhaps you aren't as solid in your faith as you'd like to be? Are you worried about yourself and those around you, and where they stand with the Lord?

Stop worrying. The rules don't change. The disciples toiled all night long, yet took nothing. Their nets were empty with their own work, even though they'd exerted a titanic amount of force and skill in their craft. "What does man gain by all his toil under the sun?" (Ecclesiastes 1:3) Sometimes we gain nothing by our own work, and that is just fine.

Jesus appears, commands the fish to swim into the net, and so they go! We are all lost if salvation and faith are up to us, and our work. We'll never find enough, and we'll never be able to convince anyone else, either. What fish willingly swims into a net? Salvation and faith are gifts of Christ! As He swam the fish into the net, so He gives these gifts of life and salvation to you. Rejoice in the giving of the gifts! You've been swept up into the net of Christ's Church, and His work continues even today. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O God, You have prepared for those who love You good things that surpass all understanding. Pour into our hearts such love towards You that we, loving You above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor René Castillero