ARE YOU A FISHERMAN?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said,
“and I will send you out to fish for people.”
(Matthew 4:19)

MEDITATION:
What is the greatest pleasure you get from fishing? It’s catching fish,
isn’t it? When you go fishing without any experience, you find that
the fish can be hard to find and difficult to catch. However, you can
learn from successful fishermen where to look for the fish and what
bait to use.

You may have thought you were fishing in the right places, until a good
fisherman says, “Follow me” and leads you to a much better area. Good
fishermen can teach you that there is a large assortment of lures and live
bait you can use, and explain which ones are best for the type of fish you
want to catch.

As you become more experienced at fishing, you learn how barometric
pressure and other weather changes can affect the fish and how they are
attracted to the bait you are using. If you want to be a good fisherman,
then you know to follow the advice of those who are experienced in fishing.

We can see why Jesus used this analogy when encouraging others to point
people to God. He was the first missionary, so He established the standard
for ‘fishing’ for the lost. He knows where and how to reach the hearts of
others (and the heart is the central part of their being; the place where 
their desire to fellowship with God resides).

Jesus is the most experienced at ‘fishing for men’, so when He says,
“Follow Me”, we can have confidence that He will lead us to the right
places for reaching people and pointing them to the Lord.

When we follow a good fisherman, we have to make changes, don’t we?
We change our location, we change our bait, and we may have to change
the time of day when we fish.

It is the same whenever we follow Jesus. When we commit to following Him,
we need to make changes in our own lives. We need to change our focus, our
priorities, our habits, our desires, etc.

Change is not easy for most everyone because we prefer to remain in our comfort
zones. Whenever we fully surrender to the control of the Holy Spirit (given to us
by God when we were saved), we can see how our lives have changed by the level
of our willingness to move from our previous comfort zone to a new one.

We need to be prepared for God to move us out of any new comfort zone as well.
None of us can know what plans God has for us after we have received salvation,
but we know that wherever He ‘leads’ us, will be a good thing.
    Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by
    the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern
    what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and
    perfect.
    (Romans 12:2)

We need to be willing to accept the Holy Spirit’s efforts to ‘re-program’
our minds. One of the major areas of change is to stop living a life of
selfishness and start living a life of unselfishness. Why? Because we know
that selfishness will make us reluctant to leave our comfort zone, and will
inhibit our willingness to follow the Lord, and His will for us.

Once we have become ‘comfortable’ with a new ‘Spirit controlled’ lifestyle
(instead of ‘self-controlled’ one), God may want to move us from our new
comfort zone to an even newer one. He may want to increase our spiritual
maturity so that we live a life of ‘outwardness’ (concern for others), instead
of a life of ‘inwardness’ (focusing only on our own spiritual maturity).

In other words, we will develop a strong desire to see others grow closer to
the Lord, and for those who are lost to be saved. He may even give us a new
boldness for sharing the good news with others.

It can be difficult for us whenever God leads us out of our ‘comfort zone’. We
feel secure where we are and any change can create uncertainty and possibly
feelings of anxiety. However, we need to remember we have been blessed with
an experienced ‘Fisherman of people’ who is there to guide us.

When we leave our ‘area of comfort’, instead of trying to figure out
what to do and say, we need to depend on the Lord’s guidance and
have complete confidence that He will provide whatever we need,
when we need it.

The King James translation of the Bible Passage for this devotional says,
    “And he saith unto them, Follow me,
      and I will make you fishers of men.”
When Jesus says He will “make you” fishers of men, He is assuring us that
He will show us what to do and say. He will ‘mold us’ into the kind of fishers
of lost souls He wants us to be. Instead of trying to figure out everything for
ourselves, we need to have faith and trust in Him.

As an example of being ‘moved around’, when I ‘moved’ into retirement,
I had no idea what to expect. Would I just spend each day ‘kicking back’
and enjoying a new life with no job pressures? Would I develop a hobby,
or spend every day on the golf course? What would I look forward to each
day? Many questions ran through my mind and while I was thinking about
them, God had a plan.

Decades ago He called me to start teaching a Bible class for married adults
at church. Since I don’t particularly enjoy reading, writing, and presenting
in front of others, this was a ‘new zone’ for me. However, He showed me
that when we are willing to accept His ‘calling’, He will provide everything
needed to fulfill what He wants us to do.

As soon as I retired, He showed me His plans for me had changed. He had a
new area where He wanted me to serve (not a replacement, but an ‘add on’).
He called me to start distributing devotionals, which of course meant even
more time ‘reading’, and ‘writing’.

As you might imagine, I thought,
    “What will I do when I run out of content for the devotionals,
      and how is it possible for me to distribute them to a large
      number of people? I have some large email distribution
      groups, but how can I increase the number of recipients?”

As far as ‘running out of content’ He taught me to depend on Him for
the content (which means they are His devotionals). He’s been faithful
in providing the content (including scriptures) for many years and I
am confident He will continue for many more.

He also showed me how to distribute to larger audiences. My entire career
was in IT, but it turns out God knows more about IT than I do (wink, smile).
He steered me toward social media and the creation of a Blog for easy access
to ‘His’ devotionals. Today, they are being viewed in all fifty states and over
eighty foreign countries. I can only imagine how He is using His devotionals
to change lives.

He also answered my questions about retirement. This new assignment not
only gave me something to look forward to daily, but it has also increased
my fellowship with the Lord. In addition, He has taught me more about
Himself and His will for His creations. It is exciting to see how He steers
me daily and feeds me with the information to include in the devotionals.
I encourage you to seek His will for your own life, and even if it might be
overwhelming at first, answer His call and get ready for an exciting time!

ACTION:
How would you describe your own comfort zone? Is it God-controlled or
Self-controlled? Have you enjoyed His presence as He has led you into a
new comfort zone? Is your life controlled by selfishness or selflessness?
If you were at the gate of Heaven and were asked,
    “What did you do to advance the Lord’s earthly ministry”
how would you respond?

Are you missing out on the blessings of being a part of His missionary team?
He may want you to share with others right where you are, or He may want
you to move out of your comfort zone and serve Him in a different way. God
wants to know if you are willing to allow Him to use you as His fisherman.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, You have convinced me that everywhere
I go is a mission field for You. Help me to be conscious of this
and guide me as I point others toward You. Show me where
You want me to serve and the tools You have provided for me
to use. Help me to discover the spiritual gift You gave me when
I was saved, and teach me how to use it effectively. Thank You
for loving me enough to want me to be a part of what You are
doing to see that no one will perish. Help me to understand the
importance of my involvement.”

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