"Fishers Of Men"

"And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men." Mark 1:17

Have you noticed that it seems like the biggest part of ministry nowadays is to other Christians? We hold crusades, conferences, revivals, special fellowship gatherings primarily to teach, instruct, minister to, help and edify each other. The sermons that are preached, the books that are written by Christian authors, email messages and other publications are all geared to those who are already Christians. I am not saying there is anything wrong with that. We have to receive teaching so that we can grow in our relationship with the Lord and be effective witnesses for His glory. We need encouragement. We need to be edified. As a matter of fact, that is the primary focus of the Coffee Break devotionals and this ministry- to minister to and encourage the Body of Christ.

The point I want to get to is this- while we are so "busy" focusing on and pouring spiritually into each other, what about the lost? As soon as Jesus started His public ministry, He laid out His plan for His disciples to follow: the condition, the call and the commission. "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:17-19)

The Condition- "Repent". Repentance is the avenue by which we become Christians.
The Call - "Follow Me". After we become a Christian it is no longer about fulfilling our own plans, agenda and desires, but it's about surrendering to His lordship over our lives.
The Commission- "I will make you fishers of men." This is the plan of God for all Christians.

When Jesus called Peter and Andrew to follow Him, He told them that He was giving them a new vocation-- now they would be "fishers of men". The commission hasn't changed. We are to be "fishers of men". I have done some fishing and there are two things involved- the catching of the fish and the cleaning them. It seems to me that we are spending more time "cleaning" the fish that are already caught then we are spending "catching" some new ones. Again, that is not a bad thing, Jesus spent lots of time teaching and training His disciples and we should too. But His whole reason for coming was to "seek and to save that which was lost"-- in other words, "catch fish".

We have been commissioned to get in the "boat" (go ye into all the world) and go "fishing". Have we stopped "fishing"? If you aren't a "fisherman" (of men) then you need to start asking God to help you to become one. There is a sea full of "fish" waiting to be caught.

Have a great day. We are suppose to be "fishers of men"... how many "fish" have you caught lately?

For further reading:
Ephesians 4:11-13
Mark 1:16-18; 16:15
Luke 19:10