A New Kind Of Fishing

I will show you how to fish for people!   Matthew 4:19

When Jesus called the first disciples, he told them, essentially, “Place your life in my hands, and I will make something of it.” I’m glad that’s the order. Some people have the idea that they have to make something of their lives before they offer themselves to Jesus. But it is Christ who promises to make something of us.

I love the way Jesus uses an analogy from the disciples’ world of fishing and gives it a whole new dimension—they will be fishing for people. He’ll take what you can do and use it in a whole new way in his Kingdom.

Jesus trained his disciples the way a kindergarten teacher shows a child how to write. The teacher draws beautiful vowels that sit like plump fruit on the line. The child watches the way these letters are formed and copies them on the lines below.

That’s what Jesus does for his disciples. He shows compassion to people who are like sheep without a shepherd, and he calls us to follow his example. As his Spirit flows into you, you’ll break free from the insularity of the world around you and begin to feel God’s heart for lost people.

Jesus met a woman whom others were ready to condemn, and he reached out to her in love and showed her a whole new way of life. But when Jesus spoke with a young man who wanted to add eternal security to his self-centered lifestyle, Jesus refused to compromise his message. When his Spirit flows into us, we’ll learn to show the same kind of grace and truth.

Some disciples of Jesus have noticed that he healed the sick or fed the hungry or that when children came to him, he did not turn them away. And when these disciples heard him say, “Follow me,” they established hospitals, started famine relief programs, or founded orphanages or schools in his name.

We’re to show Christ to the world. Many will fail to see the Good News in our message, and all they will see is the bread given or the medicine dispensed. But some eyes will be opened to see the glory of Jesus.

For further reading, see Matthew 10