The net

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

THE NET

Matt 13:45-50

45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. 47 "Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

NIV

The search for the fine pearls is not much different than the man who found a treasure hidden in a field. However because some people hearing him speak these parables may be more apt to understand the merchant and the pearl than the man and the field. However there is a slight difference in that the man in the field found a treasure hidden and the merchant was in an active search for a fine pearl. There are some people who just stumble across the message of salvation and there are those who are actively searching answers to the matter of life and death. Is there a life after death? Does everyone get to go to heaven, or is it just for those who find the truth. What about those who have never heard, or stumbled across the message of salvation? What about those who have never searched for it? Jesus tells one more parable which does answer all those questions or perhaps makes more questions. The net is dragged along the bottom of the lake and gathers both good and bad fish. Although we are aware there are those of us who consider ourselves Christians, believers in Jesus, saved, and there are those who refuse to accept Jesus and thus are doomed to perish, this parable seems to imply all sorts of fish are caught in the net. Of all those caught in the net, there are good and bad fish. The net representing the kingdom of heaven, the gospel message, then some of those who are within the kingdom are bad fish. This is disconcerting. How can we be certain who is the good fish and who is the bad? We would think there has to be some kind of evidence as to who is who. Perhaps we might find the clue within the book of Acts.

Acts 11:22-24

22 News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

NIV

Barnabas saw the evidence of the grace of God, he saw the divine influence of God on the people in Antioch and how his influence was reflected in their lives. He certainly could not see unmerited favor, for there is no way to observe it. Therefore we might be able to say that the good fish are those who exhibit the divine influence of God in their lives. There are therefor also people who attend church, who call themselves Christians but have no evidence of being influenced by God. They live somewhat of a secular life, incorporating God, or religion into their lives in an attempt to serve two masters. We are told it is impossible to please God without faith.

Heb 11:5-6

5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

NIV

This comes to us from that chapter in Hebrews which is dedicated to faith. Faith in Jesus for salvation is one thing, but we must also have faith in God for every aspect of our lives. All that we do needs to be done under the guiding influence of our divine God. When we act under our own will, our own ideas, our own influence, we reject his. This could be one way in which he will decide who is the good fish and who is not. That sounds a little judgmental, yet God is going to be judgmental at the end of this age. He will sit down and go through the basket containing all sorts of fish keeping the good and discarding the bad. Again this is not a matter of who is sinless and who has committed a sin. How can any of us be free from all sin? It has to come down to who believes God, who lives under his influence and who doesn’t. It might be that the vile sinners, those who reject God completely are the bad fish. That would make our lives a whole lot easier knowing because we accepted Jesus we are the automatically the good fish. But those who reject Jesus cannot be those fish caught in the net. They never got caught up into the kingdom of heaven in the first place. But we need to examine ourselves to find the evidence of his divine influence upon our hearts and minds, as we are in the net, before it is drawn up on the shore.