Fishermen

I do not care for fishing.  I mean, I like the excitement of catching one on a hook, I like to eat it, but to kill the fish, scale it, clean it....no, I do not really care for that part of the experience.

Thinking about fish... I listened to bible teaching the other day that had some mention of "fishing." It really got me thinking....

If you have read the scriptures, perhaps you will remember that Jesus told those first followers of his, the apostles, that he would make them "fishers" of men.  The man teaching made the point that one should stop, take a moment and think about the fish.

That is what I have been doing of late.... thinking.


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There they are swimming in their deep comfortable waters, not wanting to be caught at all.  After all, to be caught, scaled, cleaned and cooked up to feed another creature, would mean the death of the fish.

To the man or woman caught by the net of the gospel of Jesus Christ, gospel also means death of the old creature you once were.  Brought up from the darkness.... into the light.

It's a new life on dry land.


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Now about being a "fisher of men."

To be a fisherman, you have to be willing to go where the fish are, throw you line in with bait and wait and be very strategic.... even patient,  But there is another kind of fishing.... fishing with a net.

On the ocean, to be a fisherman, you have to be a little more rugged than your average sportsman fishing on a clear day at the lake in a boat.   You must know your coordinates, manage your boat, trust those who are fishing with you, and have the stamina to endure the rough and rolling, often unpredictable sea. Then you cast a net into deep water and painstakingly draw it our again... to see what the net catches, clean it and call it good day of fishing.  It's kinda like this type of fishing to be a fisher of men.

To be a true "fisher of men, one must know the Bible, understand the gospel, and be able to rightly divide the word of truth.  There is a certain camaraderie too that is shares by Christians... pastoral types and laypeople alike, a sense of trust and love that encourages and eases the trials and tribulations encountered in everyday life.   The fisher of men, casts the net of the gospel, preaching the word of God into dark areas of life in this world and when he is done he catches men of all kinds, colors shapes and sizes...... baptizes them in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit.... and calls it good. The gospel, when the gospel is preached, acts as a sort of net.  Those with ears to hear will hear and be drawn in.

Contrary to what some people think and teach,  The disciples.... later apostles... did not catch men by luring them with shiny deceptive delicacies upon a hook.  They used a net.



Amos 4:2.
 The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.