Stop Living for “If Only” | The Gospels | Luke 5:1–11

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study

Ten Minute Bible Talks

Mental Health, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality, Health & Fitness, Christianity

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 March 2026

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What’s the “if only” you keep chasing? Why do we keep believing contentment is just one achievement, relationship, or outcome away? And what if Jesus is calling us into something bigger? In today’s episode, Tanya shares how Luke 5:1–11 shows that when Jesus fills Peter’s empty nets, he’s not just providing a miracle, but calling him from horizontal striving into vertical purpose. Read the Bible with us in 2026! This year, we’re exploring the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passage: Luke 5:1–11

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life.
0:09.3	And the time it takes to get to work.
0:10.9	I'm Tanya Wilmuth.
0:13.1	Jesus calls us every single day to trust him and follow him.
0:17.6	He asks, why do you try so hard to do things on your own? What are you trying to
0:22.1	prove? It's another one of those things we all tend to do. We look at our schedules as opportunities
0:27.4	to show that we are busy and productive, and we look at our lives as horizontal responsibilities
0:32.6	when the reality is that we have all been given vertical purpose. We look at the things we're called to do to give us meaning and fulfillment,
0:40.5	and we perform those things with a list of if only statements.
0:45.5	If only, I could get that group of people to include me.
0:49.4	If only, I could be seen as a leader in my work.
0:53.6	If only, I could be offered the position I have worked so
0:57.2	hard for. If only, I could know how that person feels about me. If only, I knew when I was financially
1:04.9	stable enough to retire. If only I had, even one of these things, I wouldn't struggle anymore.
1:13.7	I could be happy and I could be content.
1:17.5	Then I will feel okay.
1:19.9	Then.
1:21.0	See, the problem is you and I try too hard to find this kind of contentment in the created
1:26.6	things that will never actually be able to deliver
1:29.9	the sense of completion and rest that we crave. The more time and effort we spend, the more
1:37.4	money we spend on them, the more they actually take from us. It's a spiral that makes us busy,
1:44.1	overwhelmed, addicted, and empty.
	...

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