Fishers of Men
Sep 25, 2016 // By:Dave // No Comment
Matthew 4:19 records Jesus inviting His first two disciples to service and tells them they can be made “fishers of men”.
The invitation is what we call a conditional promise. (i.e. if you do this then I will do that). Another term for this arrangement is a contract. This means a condition must be met by one of the signers before the reciprocal condition will be fulfilled.
The phrase “follow me” is the contracted condition in this invitation before the invitee will be made a “fisher of men”. Many focus on what it means to be a fisher of men and this is good to determine what it is, how it works and what it looks like. I wouldn’t argue that for a second. All of this means nothing if the person wanting to be a fisher of men does not follow the master in the first place. This would mean it is the person trying to make himself a fisher of men rather than being a work of the master. Matt 7:23 shows the end result of such human endeavors.
The word follow (and its context) means continually walking with him and leaving behind all that He asks us to leave behind.
- 1 John 5:1-7 tells us how we can know if we are following Him.
- John 8:12 tells us that if we are following Him we will not walk in darkness but have the light of life.
- John 8:31-32 tells us that we must hold to His teachings, then we will know the truth and be free (another way of saying the light is in us and we are not walking in darkness).
So perhaps you’re wondering… how do I do that? How do I actually follow Jesus and begin to walk in the light? Here’s how:
Get into God’s Word regularly. As we read or listen to His Word, we can ask God to reveal Himself to us, and speak to us relationally and intimately.
Choose to actually do what His Word says. As we discover what His light says about relationships, work, sex, and our priorities, then we should follow what it says.
Finally, live your life the way Jesus lived His . How did He do that? He depended on the Father. He would get up early before dawn to be alone because he wanted to talk to His Father. What was His goal? He wanted to please the Father and intended to fulfill the Father’s agenda. This was Jesus’ light and it should be ours as well.
Matt 6:25, Matt 10:39, Matt 16:25, Luke 17:33 all say the same thing; Jesus saying “try to hang onto things your way and lose it all, give the old life up, follow me and find the life you actually wanted (even if you didnt know it) given to you for eternity”.
The fishers of men portion of this also has some good depth to it. 🙂
Most men have experienced fishing and realize that it requires knowledge of the habits of the specific fish desired to catch. It’s habits include water depth, which times of day it can be caught at what temperature waters, close to shore, deep water, near plants, surface hunter, will it strike at shiners, worms, lures, noisy lures, movement, skittish with sounds or movement above water, etc.
Tackle for fishing for men:
- Ephesians 6:10-18 (being ready at all times to stand strong, part of fishing in dangerous waters).
- 2 Corinthians 4:4 (discerning which fish to go after since they are all blinded by darkness and we need to discern which fish are ready to take the bait).
- I Corinthians 1:18 (being ready with the only lure that can bring a man from the dark water into the light and warmth above, the Gospel of Jesus Christ … the good news).
- Romans 1:6 (standing unashamed and unwavering on the same truth which saved us).
So … are you following Him (the way He says to that is)? They if you are doing it His way, He IS making you a fisher of men because you have the same heartbeat as He did !!
εν διακονια τω θεω, Dave Cadieux