Going fishing

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

            GOING FISHING

Matt 4:18-22

18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."  20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

NIV

Here we have the call of Peter, Andrew, James and John. It is very doubtful these four men knew anything about Jesus as he grew up in Nazareth and these men grew up in the land of Zebulun or the land of Naphtali in Capernaum. Although we do not know how long it has been since Jesus started preaching, “Repent, the kingdom of God is near”. It is possible these men had hear him preaching before this call on their lives. Yet it is for certain they were not aware of who is actually was. If they had heard him, they might have considered him to be a prophet at best. From history we know at this time it had been some four hundred years since Israel heard from a prophet. John the Baptist would have been the first and again all of Israel may or may not have heard of him either. Either case Jesus must have spoken with authority, as one who has that authority over all that was made. Whether they knew anything about Jesus or not, the point is they did not hesitate one bit to leave what they were doing and followed him. The Greek word translated “at once” and “Immediately” is the exact same word. Why the translators used two English words is unknown. Yet the point is they followed him at the very moment he called them. Our life lesson is in the words Jesus spoke to them. He said that he would make the fishers of men. We cannot be certain just exactly what they thought it meant to be a fisher of men. We certainly do and although this is the calling of his twelve that are referred to as the Apostles, this is also a calling on all believers. Why would we believe the whole of our salvation is totally centered on us? We accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and receive eternal life. Then we get all the stuff. We get the Spirit, we get the gifts, we get the armor, and we get the fruit. Then we get all the material stuff, the blessings of God because we seek him first and all these things will be added on us as well. Everything is about us. What do we get out of accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior seems to be the general thought of many believers. What did Peter, Andrew, James and John think they were going to get? It seems the only thing was to be taught how to be fishers of men. Is that not our calling? Are we not called to go out into all the world and preach the gospel or was that again just for the twelve? Why else would we have the Spirit, the gifts, the armor and the fruit, if he did not intend for us to be out in the world being fishers of men? If we are not, than it would appear we have that “us four and no more” attitude or perhaps a completely self-absorbed attitude, with everything being about how God blesses us. If the only people we associated with are other believers then who are we fishing for? So often we spend time studying the scriptures, or listening to sermons on how we can be a better Christian. How can we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior any better than we already did? The fact is we are either a Christian or not. We cannot be a worse or a better one. But what we can do better is fish. We can learn how to be better fisher of men. These four men spent the next three years in the presence of Jesus, watching and listening to everything he did and said. They learned from him. But still they were not fully prepared until he left and sent the Spirit to them and to us. So as with them, we have all we need. We have his words, his deeds, and all the gifts, the armor, the fruit and the Spirit to become fishers of men. So let’s go fishing.