This topic is one I have come back to time and again over my years of faith. It resonates with me especially because the first sermon I heard was about just that and it made perfect sense. Interestingly the Pastor was actually fishing when he spoke about being fishers of men. It was such a good analogy.
Last night I ran across a video last night of Anne Graham Lotz speaking at his funeral. She was fantastic, if you want to check it out go here https://youtu.be/mM560fQSbSA, got me thinking about spreading the word which she addresses so eloquently.
Matthew 4: 18-22 Jesus Calls His First Disciples 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 send you out to fish for people.” 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.
You may think Jesus was not thinking clear about choosing fishermen to be his disciples. Think about it for a minute, these were to be the men who went out among the common folks to preach about Jesus message, to start the Church, to establish what is now Christianity. This is a daunting task if you really think about it. These were common men, not scholars, not taught but what they had was heart and desire to do Jesus’ work and help further the cause.
With that same thinking we can question ourselves too, who am I that God thinks I can do Jesus’ work, spread the gospel. Well, answer is that you are no less qualified than the fishermen He picked. We are called to be fishers of men, which simply means to just talk to others about the good news of Jesus. Sometimes its as simple as living out your life by being a light. Telling your story, being that great example.
I want to go one step further, we need to do this with passion. Much like the brothers Jesus found James and John, they had passion, they had fire, they wanted to do the job and do it good. The passion they had at times was a little over the top, to the point Jesus had to pull them back down to earth, this is when he gave them the name Boangers – Sons of Thunder.
So – spread the word. Do it with passion – be the modern day Boangers! I am using this blog to spread the word. Hope this encourages you to do the same and do it with passion.
Heavenly Father,
First please bless those reading this today. Bless them and the family they represent. Lord, show us how and when You want us to spread Your word. Give us divine appointments to share our story in hopes it will bless someone else and increase the numbers for the Kingdom. Thank You for providing. In Jesus Name - AMEN