Casting out your nets

In the days that Jesus walked the earth, he came to region of the world where fishing was a mainstay of everyday life, a number of his disciples were fishermen. It would make complete sense that Jesus would communicate to these people in a way they could best understand.

Mark 1:17
And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

How can we become “Fishers of men.” Jesus gave us two key actions, one ours, and one His.
1. Follow Me. It all starts with following Him. Following Jesus means we, accept Him for who He really is, God’s Only Son, the Messiah, the Saviour. It also means that we confess and repent of our sins and ask for His forgiveness. Having accepted it, we now walk step by step, day by day, month by month and year by year with Him. It doesn’t mean we are perfect and that we will never make another mistake or commit another sin, it does mean we are forgiven.

1. I will make you become fishers of men. It doesn’t say you must make yourself into fishers of men, it says “I” will make you become fishers of men. This is a critical point. We cannot make ourselves into something useful to Him. We are not capable of being what He needs. The best thing we have ever done is as filthy rags compared to Him. He, however can transform us into what He needs us to be to go out and fish for men. Why wouldn’t God want us to work hard and make ourselves into something He would consider glorious? Who would be glorified in that? Right, we would. What happens when we take our eyes off of Him and place them on ourselves? You got it again, it’s always a shipwreck.

God wants what is best for us. This is the formula that works, all our plans fail. I don’t know if you have ever been one of a number of fishermen who pulls a net into the boat only to find that it is filled with fish. I haven’t, but I’ve seen a lost brother come to the foot of the cross and give his life to our Lord. That joy, that pleasure, is beyond all others. I want to keep myself positioned with Christ, in a way, that my nets always come back full, for Him.

the pilgrim