Can Can we talk about fishing one more time?
To be honest, I don’t like fishing.
When my husband and I were dating, he thought I enjoyed it. But you all know, I really just liked being with him, so I would make the sacrifice and smile a little while we were out there.
Fishing’s funny, though. Sometimes I’d cast my line out into the water and catch a fish right away. A few times, I was the only one who caught anything. Clearly, the fish had no idea how I felt about them. Or that I was the most inexperienced fisherperson around.
I guess what I’m saying is, catching fish may sometimes be a matter of technique, of having the right equipment and using it the right way. But not always.
One of those days when I had the only catch!
Today I want to focus on the second half of yesterday’s verse. It tells us what will happen when someone follows Jesus.
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” Matthew 4:19
Mark 1 says it this way: I will make you become fishers of men.
Make you become implies growth over time. We change to become like Jesus through a process. He changes our hearts, through time spent in His Word and prayer, getting to know His heart. He changes our hearts through the circumstances of our lives.
He also molds us through the church and other believers, but nothing grows a personal relationship with Jesus more than personal time with Him.
During Jesus’ ministry on earth, He traveled around, inviting people to follow Him. At the end of the book of Matthew, He commissioned His followers to do the same. To go out and make disciples and baptize them. Not just the pastors and teachers, but every believer.
The ways we go out and “fish for people” will look different from person to person, and that’s exactly how it should be in the body, which is the church. But we were never given the light of Christ to keep it to ourselves.
When Jesus’ disciples were caught up into His kingdom, these previous fishermen caught people in a new net. They naturally passed it on–not in a swindly way, not to add to their personal number or pat themselves on the back. They didn’t need to memorize outlines or use the correct technique to get people to convert. But out of love for Jesus, which turned into love for others, they simply invited people into the kingdom.
What are some ways to share the light of Christ with people in your corner of the world? My hope here is that we learn from each other, so please share in the comments below.
See you tomorrow,
~Angela
To find the Archive of this Series, beginning at Day 1, click here.
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