384 THE FISHERMEN OF GALILEE.

nate sinners for ever. Perhaps He | What will become of them when
may leave them to themselves, as | they die, and when Jesus Himself

He left the people of Nazareth ; and
what will become of them then?

calls them to judgment?

 

CCLVII.

JHE f ISHERMEN OF PALILEE.

a |NEday, Jesus was standing
})| by the lake of Gennesaret,

    

word of God. Two little
ships were standing at the water’s
edge, but no one was in them; for
the fishermen were gone out, and
were washing their nets. One of
these ships belonged to Simon Peter,
the good man of whom we read
before, who was brought by his
brother Andrew to see Jesus. So
Jesus went into this ship, and asked
Simon to push it away a little from
the land. And then Jesus sat down
and taught the people out of the
ship.

What a beautiful sight it must
have been! The Saviour sitting in
the little ship on the pretty quiet
lake, preaching the Gospel; and all
the people standing on the shore,
anxiously attending to every word
He spoke. We may hope that
many learnt that day to believe in
Jesus, and that they are now happy
with Him in Heaven. |

When Jesus had finished speak-
ing, He told Simon to let down his
net, and try to catch some fish.
Simon said, “ Master, we have toiled
all night, and taken nothing; but

round Him to hear the |

 

at Thy command, I will let down
the net again.” Simon believed in
Jesus, and loved to obey Him in
everything; so he threw the net
into the sea directly. And did he
catch any fish? Yes; so many
that the net was broken with the
great weight; and Simon was ob-
liged to call his friends in the other
ship to come and help him. And
they came and filled both the ships,
so that they began to sink. It was
the power of Jesus which brought
this great number of fish into
Simon’s net; for Jesus, as God, has

power over everything on land and

in the sea. All creatures obey His
will. And how kind Jesus was to
His disciples, to help them in their
difficulties and troubles! for they
were poor men, and gained their
living by fishing.

When Simon Peter saw the mira-
cle which Jesus had done, he fell
down before Him, and cried, “ De-
part from me, for I am a sinful
man, O Lord!” Peter felt how
powerful and holy Jesus was, and
how unworthy he himself was to be
with Jesus. It was humility which
made Peter say, “ Depart from mé,
not dislike to Jesus; for Peter loved
his Master more than he loved any-