Go Deep
"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
Every angler knows that sometimes the only way you catch fish is to go deep. We recently acquired a fish-finder for our boat. I enjoy skimming over the top of the water while watching the fish-finder locate where the fish are at. Often, especially in the middle of summer, the fish will be deep, where the water is cooler. Thunder will also drive the fish deep. In either case, you won't catch fish if you use a surface lure when the piscatorial prey is ten to twelve feet deep. You have to get your bait down to where the fish are. This is also true of fishing with a net. You have to get deeper, to where the fish are, or you are wasting your time.
You have to get deeper with people too. When angling for Jesus, you rarely catch anything with surface lures. You may attract attention with a buzz bait or a skitter-pop, but there will be few ‘hits' on the surface. People are deep. We need to get down past the plastic smiles and cordial words to where the soul is hidden from the exposing rays of the sun or the threatening thunder of a hostile world. Jesus told Simon to "put out into deep water" because that's where the fish were at. They still are. Go deep.