Want To Go Fishing?

April 29, 2015 

Matthew 4:18 

“And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.”

 I have to tell you how excited I was when fishing for crappie last week with Josiah and one of my friends I hooked into a 24 inch walleye. Now it was not season opener yet so I had to let this nice fish go back into the water. Still, I was able to capture it on camera and I share it with you.  The Schofield’s have an annual walleye fishing contest and I thought I might have the lead fish this year until my nephew Tim reminded me he pulled a 25 incher through the ice this January.

But I have to tell you how much more exciting it is to get a call from one of the guys I had the opportunity to share the Word of God with call me and tell me he has trusted Christ. Caught fish usually end up in the frying pan. Caught men escape the fire and end up in the security of a loving Savior.

Now, to catch fish one has to make sure they are in the right place at the right time using the right bait. To catch men there are all kinds of books written on subjects like, confrontational evangelism, creation evangelism, friendship evangelism, felt-need outreach, and the list goes on. Now, we may glean some insight from all these various approaches on how to reach out and touch someone with the good news of Jesus Christ. But I believe the Scripture we started this letter with gives to all of us the most potent, powerful and profoundly simple approach for being a witness for Jesus Christ. It is simply to follow Him. The closer we stay to Jesus, the more we become like Him and the more like Christ we are in our lives and the more credible our witness. Many are the people who claim to speak for God, but how many of us can be accused of being like Jesus Christ? Jesus is to men like honey is to bees when a lost soul is brought to see their need for a Savior. They certainly do not need our religion, but rather a personal encounter with the reality of Jesus Christ. Can they see Jesus in us?

Now I would love to catch a 26 inch walleye and be able to tell Tim he needs to get out in his boat and try, try again as he has loved to tell me for the last several years. But more than the fish, I would love to be used of the Lord to catch men for Jesus Christ. May God be pleased to use all of us who name the name of Jesus Christ to attract people to the Savior. These trophy ‘fish’ will last not only for time, but for all eternity.

Want to go fishing?

Pastor John Schofield