Mark 1:17
And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
Imagine the scene on the day that Jesus comes up to the boat the Peter, James and John were working to catch fish? Imagine the father of James and John, Zebadee, counting the fish and tallying, in his head, the profits for the day. Jesus, still an unknown itinerant preacher of a carpenter's son, at the time, tells Zabadee's crew, leave what you have known all your life, and I am going to apply the same principles you use for catching fish, to the art of fishing for men, spiritually. Hard sell? Jesus is about to ask them to re-invite their lives. But, THEY are not going to the re-invention. JESUS is going to to the work. Notice the word choices Jesus uses in the above verse: He doesn't say, I am going to interview you for the role of fishers of men. He doesn't say: I am going to have my HR department on-board you and assess you for the role in the organizational structure of, Chief Fishermen of Men. He doesn't say: Let's give this a try and see how you work out ... you will always have fishing to fall back on if this doesn't work (Peter actually thought that way after the crucifixion). NO!! What Jesus says is that if they will follow, HE WILL do the work and MAKE them fishers of men. No body is a natural fisher of men. This calls for having compassion on others and to be concerned about spiritual condition of others. But, that is not the primary "job qualification" for this fisher-of-men position. The primary requirement is that you follow hard after Jesus and learn His ways. He will then MAKE you desires of the spiritual welfare of others. We don't follow hard after God. Note what Paul tells us in the following passage:
Colossians 1:21
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
We, before Christ, were alienated and hostile and evil deed doers. Now, under Christ's tutelage, we can be made to desire the spiritual welfare of others. Do we care that others are coming to Christ? Do we care that, absent Christ in their lives, they are going to suffer eternally? God does these things in our lives to give us the ability to proclaim His saving grace to others. Again, listen to Paul:
Colossians 1:25-28
of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully KNOWN, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now REVEALED to his saints. To them God chose to make KNOWN how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we PROCLAIM, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
Our role in the gospel is to be fisher of men. But, we don't become that way because it is natural. The truth is, Christ must make us fishers of men. Our desire out to be what He intended for us ... His ministers.
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