Repulsively Attractive

I wonder what Luke had in mind in Luke 5:1 when he wrote that Jesus was standing by the lake and people crowded around him and listened to the word of God. Could he have been thinking along the lines of John's "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"?

Well, as the passage unfolds Jesus has Simon (Peter) put the boat out into the deep water to fish. Peter reminds Jesus that they had fished all night -- and caught na-da. However, they end up with a boatload of fish -- so many that the boat is beginning to sink.

Here's where the passage grabs my attention. Peter comes to Jesus and falls at his knees. "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" He comes face-to-face with the awful-attractiveness of God. In one instant, he is drawn to Jesus -- and yet knows he doesn't belong there.

This is the constant tension which I believe should always exist as we press into God. He is holy and awesome -- and we are not. There is a nagging feeling that we don't belong here. But at the same time, there is an attractiveness which we cannot resist and to which we are drawn. We want to climb up into the lap of our Abba. To lose sight of either end of the tension will make for an unhealthy and imbalanced relationship with Him.