“Deep Water” kind of sounds like the name of a epic summertime shark flick, and doing some Googling, it is the name of a shark movie coming out in 2026! 😂 I digress…

Those words “deep water” were what stood out as I was listening to the Gospel reading for last Sunday, February 9 from Luke 5:1-11:

¹ Once while Jesus was standing beside the Lake of Gennesaret and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ² he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. ³ He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. ⁴ When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” ⁶ When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst. ⁷ So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’s knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astounded at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” ¹¹ When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

“Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

It makes me ask, when do we feel like we are putting out in deep water?

Waters where we can’t see the bottom?

Where things are murky and uncertain at best, and uncharted and maybe even dangerous at the worst?

When do we worry about if we’ve drifted too far from the shore – unmoored from the solid place we once set our feet?

Deep waters offer mystery and a chance to float in unknowing. They can hold promise and adventure, or maybe even peril, and we can only find out by putting out into the waters and discovering what they hold for ourselves.

Because it could very well be that they hold an abundant catch.

But we won’t know unless we set out.

Where are you being invited to put out into those deep waters? To navigate the unknown in trust and faith? Or to cast off fears if only for long enough to find yourself in a new adventure that might offer generous bounty in your own life – new opportunities, richer relationships, a calling born out of your passion and gifts…

And who are your fellow crew, laboring with you on the boat, supporting you, encouraging you, and challenging you to catch the next wind?

May you sail into the unknown, receiving and netting abundance as sheer gift.

© Annabelle P. Markey