Fishers of Men

February 20

Leviticus 1-2

Psalm 24

Proverbs 6:1-3

Mark 1:1-20

Fishers of Men

“The Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.”  Mark 1: 17-18

Jesus came to Peter, Andrew, James and John at the seashore.  They were fishermen and Jesus had chosen them to be His disciples.  They were not educated men.  They had grown up fishing like their fathers.  When Jesus came to them, He met them where they were and He used language they would understand.   Like fishermen cast their nets out into the water, Jesus was asking them to cast the gospel message out to people.  I am not a fisherman.  I don’t like to eat fish of any kind so I never wanted to learn to catch them, but I grew up around a lot of people who fish so I know a little about it.  From what I can tell, the most important thing about fishing is that you have to go where the fish are.  You can sit in a boat all day with your line in the water but if there are no fish in the area, you are not going to catch anything.  This is true in sharing the gospel as well.  There are people who do not know Jesus all around you, but you have to go to them.  Fishing is not predictable.  If you don’t bait your hook and cast out your net, you won’t catch anything.  Fish are not going to jump into the boat. But there are times when you go to where the fish are, cast out your nets, spend all night fishing, and still come home empty handed.    This is true for sharing the gospel as well.  We take every opportunity we can to tell people about Jesus.  Sometimes they will respond and other times they won’t.  

            Another important thing about fishing is patience.  You can’t go fishing for 30 minutes and expect to come home with enough fish for dinner.  When fishermen go fishing they pack a lunch and plan to be there all day.  You can’t rush the process.  Bringing people to Jesus is the same way.  Occasionally, you will meet someone at just the right moment, tell them about Jesus and they will believe and accept Him into their hearts but that is rare.  Most people come to Jesus through relationship and seed planting.  Over a period of time, tiny seeds are planted in their hearts, often by lots of different people, until they come to the place where they are ready to accept Him.  If you will allow me to mix metaphors, sharing the gospel is also like farming.  We scatter as many seeds as we can and watch them take root over time.  We just have to focus on scattering the seeds or casting the net and let God worry about how many fish we catch.  We are not responsible for the results.  It is not our job to convince people to accept Jesus.  We faithfully tell them about Him and then let the Holy Spirit work in their hearts to bring them to salvation. 

            Finally, the last thing I know about fishing is that you can’t clean a fish before you get it in the boat.  Fishers of men have to remember that people who do not know Jesus cannot live up to the standards He set.  We should not be surprised when unsaved people act like unsaved people.  Change in their behavior will come when Jesus comes into their heart and begins to change them from the inside out and not before.