6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
Obedience to God’s commands reaps sure rewards! Jesus had just told Peter to let down the nets for a catch. Peter protested stating they had fished hard all night without success, nevertheless, at His word they would obey. Startling, they caught such a catch their nets began to break! No one was more surprised than Peter! I love the way Jesus works. He loves to blow us out of the water with His faithfulness. He came to overflow our cups. Just as there is always consequence to sin (every sin carries with it a death sentence), there is always blessing in obedience. Always! Scripture is filled with examples of God calling us to obedience - for our good. To begin with, the prophet Samuel relays a message from God to King Saul in I Samuel 15:22-23:22 But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king." 1 Sam 15:22-23 (NIV)
Through Moses, God delivers this message:18 Do what is right and good in the LORD's sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers, 19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the LORD said. Deut 6:17-19 (NIV)
In the New Testament, James, in his “to the point punch” states: 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22 (NIV)
Paul tells us in Romans: 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. Romans 6:15-18 (NIV)
If you are interested in a further study on obedience, there is a wonderful chapter in Jeremiah - chapter 7 - that would be well worth the investment of your time. Three verses in particular within that passage shout out to me in regard to obedience:22 For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. Jer 7:22-24 (NIV)
If we are believers, we have been brought out of Egypt (slavery) - we are no longer slaves to sin but slaves to righteousness. We have been set free from sin and death through the powerful blood of Jesus. God gives us commands for our good so that it may go well with us – to keep us from going backwards and not forwards! May we be found faithful in obedience to His commands! Oswald Chambers writes: "God never coerces us. In one mood we wish He would make us do the thing, and in another mood we wish He would leave us alone. Whenever God’s will is in the ascendant, all compulsion is gone. When we choose deliberately to obey Him, then He will tax the remotest star and the last grain of sand to assist us with all His almighty power.”