I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN
Peter G Kuskie,
Australia
Matt 4:17-20 From
that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom
of heaven is near.’ 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 make you fishers of men." 20 At once they left their nets
and followed him.
"Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is near." To repent means
to “think differently about; to reconsider.”
Events in the last few months have caused many of us to “reconsider” our
lives. Never before have we felt more
keenly that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
This
could send us into “panic mode.” There
is much we still need to do in our own lives let alone the harvest. However lets look to Jesus (which is always
a good thing to do). He knew He had a
big job to do and a limited time to do it, yet in this passage we find Him
walking beside the sea of Galilee. He
wasn’t power walking or jogging, He was simply walking.
God has given us all things that pertain to
life and to Godliness. That includes all the time we need to fulfil His plans
and purposes for us. You may say
“that’s ok for you but I have wasted time so I could never do all God has for
me now.” This is not true as in Joel
2:25 God has promised “I will restore to you for the years the
locusts have eaten”
In 18b he saw two brothers, Simon called
Peter and his brother Andrew.
Jesus will notice you as you are faithfully
doing what you know to do & are obeying His commands. One of my favourite
lines in a song is by Pam Mark Hall which says “on the alter of a common
place I find the glory there.” God notices us as we faithfully go about our
business under His sovereignty. The
shepherds were watching their sheep when the angels appeared to them. That day started as any other, yet it ended
with the glory of the Lord appearing!
18c
They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen
God will use the skills you have acquired
in the physical & use them in the spiritual. No experience is wasted in God. When David slew Goliath it was not
a lucky shot. David had spent plenty of
time practicing in the fields while he was watching the sheep. I can just imagine him today lining up cans
on a log or a rock to practice.
David’s
confidence in relation to Goliath was born of a faith in God and his personal
experience in daily life. 1 Sam 17:34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant
kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out
of the flock:35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out
of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and
smote him, and slew him.36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and
this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied
the armies of the living God. 37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered
me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver
me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the
LORD be with thee.
It is important that we don’t despise what
we are doing now. God is preparing us
and what we are going through now is invaluable in that preparation. “Despise
not the day of small things” Zech 4:10
You may say “that’s all very well for the
pastor but what about me? “I’m just”
looking after the kids” or “I’m just on a pension” or “I just work in an
office.” Brothers and sister never say “I’m just” this or that! You are a blood bought, blood washed child
of God with a destiny prepared by God Himself!
One of the biggest obstacles for us to overcome
is believing in the bigness of God’s plan for us! David was “just” a shepherd boy but he went on to deliver the
nation. The disciples were various
“nobodies” who went on to found the church!
Again “despise not the day of small things.”
To follow is to “come hither.”
Foundational to us achieving anything is God is our spending intimate time with
Him. Jesus said follow “me.” Books and pastors are helpful, but time
alone with God is essential.
Again
Jesus told us that He is the one who will do the work in us. He says that He is the one who will make us
fishes of men. Knowing this takes all
the strain out of the work for which God has set us apart. It is His job. He wants to use us. I became very excited when I found the
meaning of the word “make” is to “practice, perform repeatedly or habitually.” Praise God doing God’s will becomes a habit
for us as we allow Him to use us!
An example of what I mean here happened to
me today. I travel on the train with a
friend of mine. When we get to the
train station I take her bag for the walk over the train track crossing
bridge. No big deal, it’s just
something I do which has become a habit as much as anything. Today the train broke down and several
hundred people had to disembark and walk across the bridge to catch another
train. In front of me was an elderly
lady pulling a heavy suite case. I
offered to take it for her and she gladly accepted. No big deal, it is a habit!
In some small way this illustrates how God will use the things we do and
learn for His purposes. Don’t despise even the smallest lessons or
accomplishments as they are the building blocks God uses to accomplish His
purposes.
Let’s have a quick look at the nature of
fishing, as I believe the fishing analogy is valid no matter what field we are
in. Firstly a fisherman must be in the
best spot to catch fish. There is a
right spot for each of us and we must be lead of the Spirit to find it. We all have a ministry that no one else can
fulfil. Secondly a fisherman must have
the right equipment. Our equipment is
the call of God. Why is that? Because God’s calling is His enabling. In what we do we must “know that we know
that we know” that God has called us to it.
It
is important that we realize that “the need does not determine the call.” I had someone read this line while I was
writing this on the train and they told me their pastor used to teach the exact
opposite. That is, that the need does
determine the call! I find that
incredible really, but it got me thinking about examples in the bible of
different calls to people. Several came
to mind. When Jesus sent out the twelve
disciples this is what he said Matt
10:5 “These twelve Jesus sent out with the following
instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the
Samaritans. 6Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.” Does this mean there were no needy in
Samaria? I think not. Rather the disciple’s call was specific to
time and place. Next we see Jesus
responding to the Canaanite women whose daughter was troubled by a spirit. Matt 15:24 He answered,
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” Finally Paul on one of his missionary
journeys “assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.”
Act 16:7. There are
more needs in the world then any of us individually can possibly meet. God does not expect us to even try. He asks only that we find and do His will
for us. Finally lets look at the words
of Jesus again in Luke 4:25 “I
assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky
was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout
the land. 26Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow
in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27And there were many in Israel
with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was
cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
Just
because we see a need does not mean that we have a mandate from God to rush in
& do something about it. Not
understanding this is the quickest way to burn out as we try to meet everyone’s
need just because there does not appear to be anyone else to do it. None of us have a mandate to do that. We are asked only to do what God requires of
us and to trust Him for everything else.
You may say “I don’t know what God’s call for me to do is.” Faithfully wait on Him and it will become
obvious. I believe the verse “God gives us the desires of our heart” means that He plants His desires within
us. Soon His call becomes obvious –
like a baby in the womb. This analogy
is apt. When God in the parable told
the people to “depart from me for I never “knew” you, the work “knew” is “to
have intimate relations with.” Like a
man and wife. God will put His desires
in us. We just need to spend intimate
time with Him.
As
I said earlier “God’s callings are His
enabling.” Why
is that? It is because when God has
called us he also provides the anointing to fulfil the task. The word anointing means “to furnish what is
needed.” Ac 10:38 How God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good,
and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. Jesus had a job to do. As he hung on the cross he was able to say “it
is finished.” Paul said at the end
of his life “I have finished the course.” God has a job for us and He furnishes us with all we need to
complete it.
Finally a fisherman must have the
right technique if he expects to catch fish.
We are being schooled in the ways of the Holy Spirit. We are not automatically proficient in the
things of God the minute we are born again.
We must learn. How do we learn?
Through experience. It is here that the
experience of others is invaluable – as long as we do not neglect to spend
intimate time with God. However as long
as we are allowing God to be our teacher then there is much to be learned from
others.
Song
1:7 Tell
me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock and where you rest your sheep
at midday…8If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the
tracks of the sheep and graze your young goats by the tents of the shepherds.
These verses are telling us that those who
have gone before have much to teach us about the way. When it comes to the things of God we need to be like a sponge
soaking up all we can from every source.
As someone once said “life
is too short to make all the mistakes so we do well to learn from others.”
We have seen that although we have
much to do God has given us all the time we need to fulfil His will for
us. There is no need to panic. We need
only “redeem the time.” Jesus sees
us. There are no “no-bodies” in His
kingdom. God wants to use our life
experiences for the furtherance of His kingdom and the fulfilment of His
purposes in our life.
19b At
once they left their nets & followed Him
We come at last to the response of these
fishermen to the call of God on their lives.
Thankfully they were not like a couple of other people mentioned in the
Bible:
Lk 9:59 And He said unto another, Follow me. But he said,
Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60 Jesus said unto him, Let the
dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61 And another
also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell,
which are at home at my house. 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put
his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
The response of these fishermen was
instant – “at once” they followed Him.
Praise God. The only way to see miracles is our lives and the lives of
others is to follow Jesus and respond appropriately when He requires something
of us whether it be our time, resources, goals, or our fresh surrender. If we don’t respond appropriately we will
only ever hear of miracles second hand.
Jesus is walking by us now, He sees you, He
sees me and He calls us to follow Him.
How will we respond?
