Fishing For Men

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

FISHING FOR MEN

Mark 1:16-20

16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."  18 At once they left their nets and followed him. 19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

NIV

We do not know how much time has elapsed since Jesus was tempted in the wilderness and the imprisonment of John the Baptist, and this time Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilee. From what we gather here, this is the first time he has called men to follow him, although from the other accounts it seems that some of the disciples of John had gone to follow Jesus. Nevertheless, here is where Peter and Andrew come on the scene as well as James and John, the sons of Zebedee. What is interesting is that when Jesus calls them he tells them he will make them fishers of men. Was that just because they were fishermen and he used their trade as an example of how he would transform their lives, or does he call all of us to be fishers of men? Certainly, there are some people today that enjoy the sport of fishing, and they could apply this calling to themselves. But are we not all supposed to be witnesses for Jesus? Are not all of us who believe called to share our faith? Surely, we have been called to do something other than continue doing what we have always done, only having been transformed for our own benefit. Are not all of us supposed to be fishers of men, no matter what other skills, or profession we have? But how do we cast our nets? Of course, today we might say as to how do we bait our hook? What type of lure do we use? Do we use a casting pool, with a large lure, or do we use fly fishing as our means of fishing for men. The point is that we should be fishing for men, we should be using some sort of lure to entice men to bite. Jesus trained his disciples on how to share their faith. He transformed them. He said he would make them fishers of men. It is not up to us to figure out how to be a witness or a fisher of men. Jesus will transform us, train us on how to do that which he has called us to do. Maybe we all are not supposed to be fishermen. Maybe he calls some of us to some other method to catch men, but it would seem the point is the same, we are all supposed to lure others into the kingdom of God. That would mean we cannot just go about just being a Christian and live life like we always have, except now we are a believer. We would certainly have to admit that Peter changed from just being an ordinary fisherman to a powerful man of God, so much so that after the Spirit was poured out on them, Peter stood up in the city and preached a great sermon and thousands responded, and became believers. That is a transformation into being a fisher of men. Are we not transformed? Should we not go fishing?