Never a Waste of Time
“And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him [Jesus] to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.” (Luke 5:1-8)
Imagine the fishermen’s faces when Jesus told Simon to go to deeper water and let down the nets. They had been out all night in the elements, gotten nothing, and were likely tired and ready to go home. Yet Jesus said to drop the nets, so they obeyed Him, even if they thought it would do no good.
They got the surprise of their lives! They caught so many fish that their net broke. They needed help from their partners in the other ship, and even then both the ships began to sink! When we obey the Lord, even if our motives aren’t the best and even if we don’t think it will do any good, God can do amazing things. Doing right, regardless of the reason, is always better than not doing right.
Hebrews 10:25 says to be “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,” This means to attend church faithfully. Say a man only goes to church to make his wife happy. That’s not the best reason, but at least he goes. Then one Sunday God uses the preaching to deal with some issue in his life. He is glad he went and he sees that obeying God and going to church really is worthwhile.
Isaiah 34:16 says, “Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read:” Reading the Bible is always worthwhile. Reading out of duty is not the best reason, but it is better than not reading it at all. When you read the Bible, you may find a new, helpful truth or rediscover an encouraging truth that you had already known but forgotten. Or you may just enjoy reading and letting God speak to your heart.
Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) This means Christians are to tell others about Jesus. Yet witnessing can be scary. If you hand someone a gospel tract and invite him to church, he may become angry or call you a religious nut. Don’t let it bother you. Such responses come with the territory. You’re obeying the Lord. That is most important.
Witnessing also is never a waste of time. 1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “…your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” When you witness, you plant seed in people’s hearts for God to convince them of their need for Jesus: “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” (1 Corinthians 3:6)
Witnessing is like police work, in a way. The more you do it, the more you learn how to talk with people, pick up danger clues, and use good tactics. When witnessing, you also learn good “tactics:” how to break the ice, guide the conversation, introduce the gospel, and know how far to go.
It always pays to obey the Lord. The first step in obeying is to receive Him as Saviour. Please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click “Helpful Links,” then “How Do I Go to Heaven?” to learn more.
Brian Miller 4/20/2026