The Reel Prosperity Gospel
What Jesus Teaches Us Through Empty Nets
We went trout fishing this weekend, and this is the only thing we caught:
Oh well. A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work, right?
I wish I could say I wasn’t frustrated. I prayed while standing waist-deep in the river for a rainbow trout.
My son was frustrated, too.
He said, “Dad, is this what it was like in 1995 before Wi-Fi?”
Yes, son. Those were the dark ages.
The empty nets made me think about another fisherman who had a terrible day on the water.
The morning we left, I found myself drawn to Peter’s calling in my Bible. It was the perfect passage to read over a cup of coffee, looking out at the same rushing water we had just spent time fishing.
The apostle Peter had a bad day fishing—and a bad day at work—when he met Jesus.
He told Jesus, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing” (Luke 5:5).
The text doesn’t explicitly say Peter was frustrated, but it’s hard to imagine otherwise. He and his partners had worked through the night and come up empty. Fishing was their livelihood—not a hobby.
As they stood on the shore cleaning their nets, Jesus arrived with a crowd eager to hear Him teach.
Then Jesus told Peter to put the boat back out and let down the nets once more.
Peter obeyed.
“And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking” (Luke 5:6).
In an instant, Peter had everything he had been working for.
The fish were so plentiful they nearly sank the boats.
But Peter didn’t want it anymore.
“And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him” (Luke 5:11).
The fish hadn’t become less valuable.
Jesus had become more valuable.
Peter’s perspective on treasure changed from temporal to eternal.
This is opposite of what is commonly called “the prosperity gospel.”
The prosperity gospel says that if you give to Jesus then He will help you get your treasure. If I give, go to church, and do certain things, I will get something in return. This is a dangerously false teaching. It’s not really a gospel at all (Galatians 1:6-7).
But there is a true prosperity gospel.
Look no further than Jeremiah 29:11, one of the most quoted verses in all of the Bible:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Yes, God wants to prosper us. But this does not match the world’s definition of prosperity.
Many forget Jeremiah’s letter was written to the nation of Israel as it faced exile to Babylon. This was far worse than a bad day fishing. This was a 70-year exile to a brutal, harsh foreign land. Yet God had plans to prosper His people through this trial.
Prosperity is not material. It may even come in pain, in exile, or in empty nets.
Peter discovered this when he realized that Jesus is the treasure.
He saw the prosperity of the gospel as transformational, not transactional.
God may give you the thing you’ve been chasing. He may not. But when you truly encounter Christ, you discover that His presence is greater than His gifts.
We often focus on what we must give up to follow Christ. Peter left nets, boats, fish, and everything else behind. Yet compared to knowing Jesus, it wasn’t really a sacrifice at all.
As Pastor Joby Martin says, “It’s like giving up thirst for a cold drink of water.”
What are you toiling for?
Maybe God will give you that thing—and more. Maybe He won’t.
But whatever He gives or withholds, the greatest gift is Himself.
I didn’t catch a rainbow trout this weekend.
But I spent time with my wife and son. I stood in a mountain river—with no Wi-Fi. I witnessed God’s creation. I was reminded of His word.
That’s a better catch than any fish I could have reeled from the water.
Peter’s prosperity wasn’t in a boat full of fish. It was a heart willing to leave them behind.
Thank you, God, for the true prosperity found in your love.
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