I’ve been thinking about Peter, the fisherman. Do you know how he moved on from being the fisherman? I like to imagine that it was at the end of an ordinary fishing day, although it might have been a bad day. His boat was empty and he was washing his nets when Jesus asked him to take him out on the water, a little ways from the land.

Peter did and Jesus taught the crowd from the boat. When he finished speaking, he said to Peter, “Put out into deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

An eye roll isn’t caught in the holy text, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what Peter did. He had already been out and it wasn’t a good fishing day. In fact, it was a long day. Peter respoded, “Master, we toil all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

So Peter tossed his nets out in the deep. They were filled with so many fish that the nets began breaking. They collected enough fish to fill two boats and the boats threatened to sink from the weight of the fish.

When Peter saw the catch, he fell at Jesus’ knees. Peter was astonished and he knew he didn’t deserve the abundant catch.

And it was right here that Jesus changed Peter’s life. At the end of a a long day at work there was a miracle and an abundant catch. Peter didn’t feel worthy. Jesus looked at Peter, maybe even cupped his hand around his jaw, and said, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

And do you know what Peter did? In that moment he left his old life as a fisherman and picked up a brand life path.

I’m moved by the way Jesus tells Peter to put the nets out in the deep. It’s a long shot. It doesn’t make sense. It’s beyond the parameters of a good fishing spot. Yet Peter does it anyway. He casts out his net into the deep. And because Jesus is lavish, there are so many fish the nets are tearing and the boats are sinking.

Peter’s obedience is rewarded. He learns to trust Jesus, even when Peter “knows better.”

I’m moved even more by the way Jesus takes who Peter was — a fisherman — and uses it as a building block, as a knowledge base, as a way to launch him into a new calling. In essence, Jesus is saying, “You know fishing, so take what you know and fish for men.”

Today might be an ordinary day, just like Peter’s day, starting out just like any other day. It might even be an ugly day, a day when you’re not sure you’re cut out for the work before you. That’s okay. Because whatever you are right now, God plans to use it to launch you into whatever is next. It might not be right now or next week or next year. It might be many years from now, but it’s all part of a bigger picture.

And that makes it all worth tossing caution into the deep and following God with rapid obedience.