DO IT BECAUSE HE SAID SO

5/19/2025

Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because You say so, I will let down the nets’” (Luke 5:5).

The Word of God was never designed to make sense. Quite the reverse; the Word of God is designed to make faith and increase your faith in God. The only responses that fit His instructions are “Yes!” and “Amen!” Do not try to figure God out. We have so many examples from the Bible where God gave instructions that made absolutely no sense. He told Noah to build an ark in preparation for a flood even though Noah had no idea what to expect. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:7 that “By faith, Noah respected God’s warning regarding the flood - the likes of which no one had ever seen—and built an ark that saved his family...” It made no sense to Noah yet He responded by faith and was obedient to the instruction. He was ridiculed by many for doing a “foolish” thing.

Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, when faced with leprosy, came to Prophet Elisha for help. Prophet Elisha inspired by the Spirit instructed him saying, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed” (2 Kings 5:10). This made no sense whatsoever to Naaman. Naaman got angry and left in rage because he had ideas of a better way for God to bring about his miracle. He saw the instruction given to him by God through His prophet as illogical and irrational. He thought he had a better prescription to cure his leprosy. But thank God for his servants who knew the power of obeying God. They said to him, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’! So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy” (2 Kings 5:13-14).

Simon Peter was a very skilled fisherman. He had a large scale fishing business. The Bible reports that he had several partners in his business, which suggests that this was not a business done on a small scale. In our day, we would say that he was a major shareholder in the company. On this fateful day, the scriptures tell us that Simon and his business partners were out fishing with two boats. They had done all that they learned to do in fishing school to catch fish and nothing happened. They had applied all the principles of fishery and had no success. They exhausted every strategy and began washing their nets. In other words, they retired their human efforts. Simon gave up trying and instead listened to Jesus as Jesus taught the multitude from his boat. When Jesus was done speaking, He said to Simon, “...put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.  Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets’” (Luke 5:4-5). And the Scriptures record that when he let down his nets, “they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.  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.”

Rather than get frustrated about not getting results, having applied all that he knew, Simon listened to the Word. Jesus was preaching from the same boat that Simon was in and Simon chose to listen; for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). After listening to Jesus, Simon’s faith was stirred and when the time came for him to act on the Word, he said, “because You said so.” This is probably one of the most powerful phrases in the bible. In other words, he was saying, “I know I have a Ph.D. in fishery and several years of experience in this field, but I choose to put all that aside because You said so. I know that I have been out here all day trying to catch fish, but I choose to ignore my past failures and respond to your instruction “because You said so.”

God’s instructions will not make sense to you. However, if you will record a testimony, you must respond with “Yes” and “Amen.” Is there something that God has asked you to do? Forget your past failures. Do not consider your human abilities or limitations. Forget your degrees and accolades and respond like Simon, “because You said so.” Reach high and reach wide because He said so!

God bless you!

Faith Filled Confession:

As I give myself to the Word of God today, I receive faith. I am strengthened. I am renewed. I exalt the Word of God above everything else. I follow through with God’s instructions. I am not moved by what I see, feel or hear. I am moved by the Word and the Word only. I declare that I am moving forward and I am making progress. In Jesus' name. Amen!