Tag: fishers of men

Cast Your Net Wide

Old Testament: Genesis 39 & 40

Poetry: Psalm 17

New Testament: Matthew 13:47-52



There is a sharp difference between commercial fishing and recreational fishing. With recreational fishing that we are all more familiar with, we are selective in the bait we choose and try to reel in one fish at a time: depending on what type of fish you want to catch, you will choose to use something different. For example, if you want to catch catfish like I did when I was younger, you’ll have more luck using stinky chicken liver than ordinary worms (I can tell stories of how bad that stuff can stink up a truck). But commercial fishing is very different: you are trying to catch as much as possible with a net, and will sort out whatever garbage after you have pulled it in. Commercial fishermen are not selective (except in what area to fish in): they cast their net wide and hope for the best.


Jesus compares the kingdom of God/heaven to this type of commercial fishing: at the end of the age, the angels will draw up everybody and then sort them out. The kingdom of God is not seeking individual fish, but casting its net over EVERY potential fish, because every person has a chance at having eternal life. Unfortunately, as with commercial fishing, some are going to be bad and reject the offer Jesus came to bring: they will reap the consequences of their decision
in the end. However, that is the nature of commercial fishing and the nature of the kingdom of God: allowing everyone to have a chance in the net, and letting the angels sort it out in the end.


Jesus called us to be fishers of men and participate in his fishing expedition (Matthew 4:19): however, he was calling us to be like commercial fishermen rather than recreational. We are expected to cast our net of the gospel WIDE, offering it to whoever we come across, not being selective about who gets to hear it. While we recognize that there will be some people who reject our message (and maybe persecute us), we are doing our duty by offering them the
chance of eternal life. Unfortunately, we often pick-and-choose who we think should hear the gospel for various reasons, rather than “being ready in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2) for the person who comes across us. We need to remember our calling as fishermen and put aside our personal preferences.


Ask yourselves these questions today:


1. Are your nets ready? (Do you understand the gospel yourself?)
2. Are you willing to step out onto the boat? (Are you moving towards the people rather than sheltering inside?)
3. Are you prepared for the fish you might encounter along the way? (Are you ready for anybody to accept the message, even if they seem “less desirable” in your eyes?)


– Talon Paul

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Look Inside

Luke 5

Monday, December 13, 2022

Looking outward rather than inward is a common tendency among mankind. I cannot stress the importance of making the decision to accept our downfalls and repent instead of continuing on in a faux form of oblivious happiness. It’s difficult in our fast-paced, always moving lives to make enough time to stop and reflect on some of the crucial lessons given to us on this topic throughout Jesus’ ministry, and Luke 5 has so many of them.

In verses 1-11 we see Jesus go before Simon Peter and his fishers who had no luck with catching fish all night. Jesus commands them to cast their nets again and a miracle occurs where every net is filled so heavy the boats began to sink. While this is an extraordinary story and example of Jesus’s ability to perform miracles and convert crowds, there’s a powerful underlying message within the conversation between Simon Peter and Jesus. When Simon sees the miracle, his first reaction wasn’t to shout in joy or surprise at the amount of fish he was just blessed with. It was to repent. Simon Peter acknowledged at that moment the truth of God and the fact that Jesus was the Messiah, and found himself unworthy. Jesus, however, does not judge or criticize Simon Peter, but instead gives him a purpose and a promise; the promise of the kingdom as long as he followed him and made fishers of men. Many times we come to expect blessings from God without realizing the greatest reward is already promised. In the same way, Simon Peter understood how he was not worthy of the miracle granted to him, and repented.

We too must come to understand the price of our sins and how we are unworthy of God’s grace. Without repentance of our sins, we can never truly come to accept why we’re unworthy of this reward, and why Jesus died on the cross for our sins, forming a New Covenant under which all our sins are freely forgiven. So in all that we do, repent and show thanks to God for the sacrifice of Jesus and the promise bestowed upon us.

-Isabella Osborn

Reflection Questions

  1. What can you learn from Peter in Luke 5:1-11? What can you learn from Jesus in this passage? Which message did you most need to hear today?
  2. What do you see when you look inward? How does it make you feel? What does it make you want to do? Pray about it?
  3. What purpose and promise do you think Jesus sets before you?
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ON PURPOSE – Evangelism

Luke 15 6b

The past five days we have been looking at how to live our lives on purpose.  We don’t want to drift through life not accomplishing what God has prepared for us to do.  We don’t want worldly goals that pull us away from what really matters.

First, we looked at the Greatest Commandment and said that to love God is to worship God.  Next, we discussed the importance of following Christ by being a devoted disciple: the on-going process of becoming mature in Christ (discipleship) which begins with time in God’s Word – and will include other godly habits as well.  And, a disciple remembers they are not alone but are connected to other disciples as the body of Christ so they are eager to fellowship with and encourage one another.  Life in the encouraging body leads to seeing other’s needs and being willing to use our God-given gifts in ministry to others.

So far, we have created an individual who deeply loves God, is growing in their walk with God’s Son, has healthy connections to the church family and seeks to serve others.  That is a GREAT and beautiful start!  But, too often, we are content to stop right there and remain committed to just these 4 purposes – and stay inside our safe little church bubble (myself included).

When church members were surveyed, 89% said, “The church’s purpose is to take care of my family’s and my needs… Only 11% said the purpose of the church is to win the world for Jesus Christ.” (Purpose Driven Church – Rick Warren – p 82).  And we wonder why the church isn’t growing.  This selfish, inward focus is not healthy, and is not what God intended for us as individuals, or as the church.

The Great Commission did not tell us to just go and BE a good disciple – it commands us, “Go and MAKE disciples of all nations.”  It is not enough to only be concerned for my own salvation.  To truly love God and others includes a desire to share a great and glorious God with those who are lost and hurting and oblivious without Him.  God wants His lost sheep found and most often he chooses to use people to do that.  Only God can save the lost, but He relies on us to share the good news.  Read Luke 15 to see God’s heart for the lost – and pray that becomes your heart, too.

When Jesus said, “Come, follow me” he wasn’t just inviting you to his church pew on Sunday morning.  He said, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19.).  He is asking you to invite others to your church pew.

Who do you know who needs to know God’s saving power and plan?  Who do you know who is not ready for Christ’s return and the Kingdom of God?  Start by naming them and then praying for them and watching for God-given opportunities to speak and act with God’s love and truth.  Then, jump in there and do it.

For Him,

Marcia Railton

 

Fishing Reflection Questions

Saturday – Recap with Bethany Ligon

 

Our week together reading, meditating, and studying Mark 1-5 has come to an end. Thank you for reading along.

 

The focus for most of the week has been on becoming fishers of men. I’ve found some reflection questions that I will leave you with. Feel free to share your thinking here on the blog or post a comment on the FUEL Facebook page.

 

  1. What strikes you most about Jesus in Mark’s picture of him at the beginning of his ministry?
  2. Of what truths was Jesus most concerned to make people aware? In other words, what is the essence of ‘the gospel of God’ that he preached?
  3. What different kinds of reaction and result did the activity of Jesus provoke?
  4. To which class of people was Jesus prepared to give most? What must I be prepared to do to belong to this class? What can I then expect him to give me?

These questions came from: Stibbs, Alan M. Search the Scriptures: The Study Guide to the Bible. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004. Print.

 

Answer the Call

Mark 3

Mark 3-13

About seven years ago, one of my very closest friends was pregnant. She and her husband already had one daughter who was birthed at home and they had decided that their second child would also be born at home. She asked if I would babysit the older daughter during the delivery. Of course, I said yes.

 

I got a call one morning from my friend and she explained that she was experiencing contractions and that I should be ready to come over in a few hours when the contractions got closer together. Ok, no big deal, I thought. I’ll run a few errands, take care of some other stuff and I’ll simply wait for the call. About four or five hours later, she calls and says, it’s time to come over. Sweet! I was excited!

 

I got to her home and her husband wasn’t there yet, he was still at work. The midwives weren’t there yet, they were stuck in traffic. Oh boy! What had I gotten myself into???

 

I helped her prepare the bed for the delivery and get some other things situated. Thankfully, her husband eventually arrived and the two of them went up the stairs while I stayed downstairs with their little girl. Finally, the midwives busted through the front door and I told them where to go. I decided to take the little girl outside to her playset and within 20 minutes, their second daughter was born.

 

After a bit of time, my friend’s husband, came down stairs and invited me upstairs to introduce me to the newest member of their family.

 

It was only after I had left to go to my own home that I realized what I could have ended up doing if the husband and midwives hadn’t shown up in time. And so, I was so incredibly honored that my friend had asked me to be part of her delivery day. But I never would have been asked to be there in the first place if I hadn’t developed the close relationship with my friend a few years before.

 

In Mark 3, we read about Jesus inviting his closest followers to become His apostles. Simon, James and John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas had all first responded to Jesus’ call of becoming His disciples. They learned from Jesus. They witnessed miracles being performed. They left all that they had to be obedient.

 

Now Jesus was asking for more. He was getting ready to send them out and become fishers of men. A task that wasn’t asked of everyone. This was an important task, one that demanded, not just knowledge and readiness, but a dedication to persist through great trials and tribulations. These men probably had no idea what they were getting themselves into when they said “yes”. But to them, because of the relationship that they had developed with Jesus, the promotion He was offering was the natural thing to agree to.

 

Here’s the thing. Jesus wants our relationship with Him to be so close, so intimate, so natural, that when He asks us to do something, to go somewhere, to minister to some person, that we don’t have a second thought about it. In fact, when we realize His desire for us to do something, it’s an honor and privilege to serve Him in whatever task He’s given us.

 

I was not prepared to deliver a child into this world, but I would have been willing if the need arose. Likewise, I may not know exactly what Jesus is going to ask of me today, tomorrow or the next, but I am willing to do whatever He asks of me. Are you?

 

-Bethany Ligon

 

Wanna Go Fishin’?

Mark 1

Mark 1-17

I used to own a pair of fish that my best friend gave me. I thought I was a decent fish owner. But then I went off to Australia for three weeks and when I returned, I came home to find that the slow-release food supply that I put into the tank, didn’t dissolve. My poor fish starved to death. Oops.

 

So your reservation to take seriously any of my mentioning of fish, fishing, or fishermen would totally be understandable.

 

But I ask that you hear me out, just this once, for this particular topic. Afterall, I did my due diligence and Googled some information.

 

Mark 1:17 says, “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

 

Being a fisherman was way back then and continues even today to be a daily job. Likewise, as we follow Jesus daily, our casting of nets should happen every day we are around others. If we are called to be fishers of men, all of our interactions need to be with the purpose of building relationships and showing others, verbally and nonverbally, what life with Jesus as our Lord looks like.

 

Peter and Andrew knew when the best time to go fishing was. According to www.takemefishing.org (I’m totally serious… ) the best time to fish is usually later on in the day. I know that there are probably a gazillion other variables that should be considered, so don’t go dismissing the bigger picture here. Later in the day, the fish are primed for feeding because their metabolism and digestion are roaring. There is a lesson for us here – in order for people to win others to Christ, they need to be primed. In God’s own timing, a person’s heart will be open to receive the Gospel. As fishers of men, we need to be praying for those opportunities to present themselves so we are able to discern what to say and when to say it.

 

We know from verse 16, that Simon (later called Peter) and his brother Andrew used nets for fishing. Not a pole, line and lure, but nets. They caught hundreds of fish at a time. When Jesus says that he will make us fishers of men, I think His intention is that we not just teach a few people about Jesus, but that we influence hundreds of people, over our lifetime, to consider what life as a follower of Jesus would look like.

 

We also know from verse 16, that fishing was not a solo effort. It demanded at least a pair to get the job done. Our faith is meant to be in a community. Yes, Jesus goes off to a solitary place in verse 35 of Chapter 1, but that doesn’t mean we live in a vacuum. Working and serving with other believers is how our faith is supposed to be carried out.

 

I fully admit that sharing the Gospel is not my strength. But as I read this verse, I became convicted that this is something that I need to take more seriously. That’s partly why I chose it to be the verse to memorize for the week. So even though it is a short verse and easy to commit to memory, it’s potential to change my life and the lives of those around me, is significant.

 

Wanna go fishin’?

 

-Bethany Ligon