Duc in Altum

"Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch."

Luke 5:4

Duc in altum means “put out into the deep,” the command and invitation Jesus imparted unto Simon, the fisherman. This comes after Simon had been out all night fishing but was unable to catch anything. Here, on the surface, Jesus, probably an unexperienced fisherman, gives to Simon fishing advice! Yet, Simon entertains Him, saying, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets,” and when he did, the catch was unpredictably enormous.

Some may say it could be a coincidence, and others may call it a timing problem, and many more will doubt that it was providence or a miracle. But it was a miracle. It was the Son of God intervening in nature for the good of man, not simply for a catch of fish, but for a catch of souls, the salvation of souls. Jesus asked Simon to do something that seemed senseless and futile, putting his nets in the water he just did for the entire night that yielded nothing. Yet, knowing this, Jesus asked Simon to anyways because He knew what He was about to do. Jesus never asks us to do something that will be fruitless. Perhaps Simon spent his time in the shallow waters, and so Jesus asked him to try again in the deep waters. Maybe Simon had been unwilling to go into the deep, but rather settled for the safety of the shallow.

Similarly in our spiritual lives, if we constantly stay on the surface or even become content with the superficial, we will find ourselves unable to really connect with the Lord, becoming frustrated and later abandoning prayer all together. We must be willing to go into the deep with the Lord. We have to search and examine the depths of our hearts and bring before the Lord those areas we rather not show or visit. Going into the deep may sometimes be dangerous, but the Lord promises us that it will always be worth it. For to put out into the deep is to place our trust completely in God, and sometimes that can be scary. However, there is no need to fear, because we do not do this alone. Just as Jesus was in the boat with Simon as he cast his nets into the deep, so too will Jesus be with us when we go into the depths of our hearts.

To truly follow Christ, we must do so unreservedly, with our whole beings, with our whole hearts. And I promise you, when you do, your life will never be the same, your life will be filled with the joy and peace that Jesus comes to bring to us because when we live in such a way, it is not longer us who lives, but Christ who lives in us. Perhaps that is the life Jesus came to give to us, a share in His divinity, life with God Himself, and what a catch that is!