“And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
(Matthew 4:19)
A great Greek philosopher once said that “A bad day fishing is a million times better than a good day at work”, okay maybe it wasn’t a Greek philosopher, but I’m sure one heck of a philosopher had to have come up with it.
At any hint of warm weather the banks of the river near where we live start to fill with old & young looking to entice a fish to the bait they have just thrown out. They all set along the shore intently watching to see if their bobber even slightly moves & when it goes under…BOOM! They set the hook! But more often than not, they are there to hang out with friends or maybe family, they sit on the bank talking, eating & drinking, enjoying the day not really caring whether they catch a fish or not & living by the rule, that you don’t fish in the rain.
I was thinking the other day as I watched the men fishing, that we as the church are a lot like the fishermen on the shore. We go to church to hang out & visit with our friends & family, to just fellowship & enjoy the get-togethers, ever once in a while throwing out some bait to try & lure some non-believers to church & often only “fishing” for a certain kind of fish. Some decide to stay home at the drop of rain.
When Jesus called the disciples to become “fishers of men”, they knew exactly what He meant, for most of them fishing was a way of life. They knew fishing was hard work. They knew the heartache of a bad day without a single fish & the joy of a good day when their nets were full. These guys didn’t sit on the shore; they got in the boat, sailed out in search of the fish, threw out nets & pulled in all kinds. Often the waters were rough & dangerous, but they still went fishing.
When God called you to be a “fisher of men” he called you to the boat, He called you to weep for the lost & to rejoice when they are saved, to go out & cast out the net & trust Him to fill it…but He never called you to just sit on the pew & every once in awhile, casting out your bait & watching your bobber hoping someone might come to church, heck He didn’t even call us to invite people to church. He called us to make disciples…to share the gospel. Do you want people to come to church? Share Jesus with them. Get off the bank & into the boat…we may not have much longer to fish.
Vern
I was thinking the other day as I watched the men fishing, that we as the church are a lot like the fishermen on the shore. We go to church to hang out & visit with our friends & family, to just fellowship & enjoy the get-togethers, ever once in a while throwing out some bait to try & lure some non-believers to church & often only “fishing” for a certain kind of fish. Some decide to stay home at the drop of rain.
When Jesus called the disciples to become “fishers of men”, they knew exactly what He meant, for most of them fishing was a way of life. They knew fishing was hard work. They knew the heartache of a bad day without a single fish & the joy of a good day when their nets were full. These guys didn’t sit on the shore; they got in the boat, sailed out in search of the fish, threw out nets & pulled in all kinds. Often the waters were rough & dangerous, but they still went fishing.
When God called you to be a “fisher of men” he called you to the boat, He called you to weep for the lost & to rejoice when they are saved, to go out & cast out the net & trust Him to fill it…but He never called you to just sit on the pew & every once in awhile, casting out your bait & watching your bobber hoping someone might come to church, heck He didn’t even call us to invite people to church. He called us to make disciples…to share the gospel. Do you want people to come to church? Share Jesus with them. Get off the bank & into the boat…we may not have much longer to fish.
Vern
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