“One
day as Jesus was walking along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon
and his brother Andrew fishing with nets, for they were commercial fisherman.
Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me! And I will make you fisherman for
the souls of men!” At once they left their nets and went along with him.” (Mark
1:16-18, NIV)
Observations:
What stuck out to me was Jesus saying,
“Come, follow me! And I will make you fisherman for the
souls of men!”
Observation/Interpretation:
This statement of Jesus was significant to me because of
the words Jesus uses to persuade them to follow Him which are
“And I will make you fisherman for the souls of men!”
I thought to myself, why is it significant that Jesus uses those words?
I was reminded of Peter and Andrew’s profession! Simon and
Andrew were fishing with nets and being commercial fisherman was their
profession!
Jesus uses language that they are able to understand as
he meets them where they are. He does this by asking them to follow Him letting
them know that what they have learned throughout the years will not go to waste
but can be used when they follow Him too! This time it won’t be just catching
fish but being fisherman for the souls of men using what they are good at.
Interpretation/Application:
I thought to myself how could
fisherman become ‘fisherman for the souls of men’?
It made me think about the function of commercial
fisherman:
- They have to go out into the sea if they want to
start fishing or at least have access to the water.
- They need to have a good net that fish will become
attached to and cannot escape.
- It is not enough to have the best net if the net is
not thrown in the water at the right place and time.
- Usually they need to work together as one drops the
net and others help pull it up.
- They utilize ways to attract the fish to come to
them.
- Once the fish are caught they make them die to be
used.
- They clean the fish and make them available to
others.
These are only some of the
functions I can think of but there could be more to a fisherman than meets the
eye. Those 7 could have been their responsibilities and here comes Jesus asking
them to follow Him and He will not let their profession go to waste but use
those same principles to make them “fisherman for the
souls of men.”
I found that very exciting as
I began thinking of the 7 functions of fisherman that came to my mind and how
those functions could be utilized as an analogy.
Point 1:
They have to go out into the
sea if they want to start fishing or at least have access to water where there
are fish.
In the same way, to be
‘fisherman for the souls of men’, Jesus wants them to go to places where there
are lost people or have access to lost people so they can fish for their souls.
Point 2:
They need to have a good net
that fish will become attached to and cannot escape.
In the same way, to be
‘fisherman for the souls of men’, Jesus wants to become their good net that they
can use so that lost people will become attached to Him and they cannot escape
once they come to Jesus.
At first this thought
sounded as if people coming to Jesus become prisoners if they cannot escape.
But, I believe once ‘fisherman for the souls of men’ allow Jesus to work in
their lives, lost people start seeing the work of Jesus in people’s lives that
they are so attracted to Jesus’ work in the people’s lives that they want to be
part of it. So, now lost people get attracted to Jesus and come. Once they come,
they cannot escape because they come to the point of ‘surrendering their lives
to Him.’
In a way, some people do
think about becoming a prisoner once they give their life to Jesus. But, I
believe it is those who have not surrendered their wills to Him who feel that
way. Those who do surrender find abundant life with Jesus.
Lost people get attracted to
Jesus many times because of the lifestyle of those who already know Jesus and are known by
Him.
Point 3:
It is not enough to have the
best net if the net is not thrown in the water at the right place and time.
In the same way, it is not
enough for us to know Jesus and be known by Jesus to reach out to lost people,
if we are just content with having Jesus as our best net and do not access the
help Jesus provides to reach out to lost people at the right place and time.
Just as the disciples went out in faith while they threw their net for fish and
believed in the profession they were in, ‘fisherman for the souls of men’
need
to go out in faith, believing in Jesus and presenting Jesus to lost people.
It won’t always be easy to
find the right place and time but fisherman keep going at it and so should
‘fisherman for the souls of men’. Eventually, just as fish are caught ‘lost
people’ do come when we do not give up and keep presenting Jesus.
Point 4:
Usually, they need to work
together as one drops the net and others help pull it up.
In the same way, just as one
person may present Jesus to someone or multitudes, that person has just dropped
the net in a ‘lost person’s life’. This is just the beginning where the seed has
been sown. As others help pull the net, I am reminded of Billy Graham Crusades
where ‘lost people’ are attracted to the net of Jesus and come to Him. While
they come to Him, they are helped by tons of counselors to pull them up from
where they were to ‘where they can be now’. Now, they are attracted to Jesus and
come but are helped by people who know Jesus and known by Him.
I learned reaching out to
‘lost people’ is not a solo job just as being effective fisherman is not. Jesus
did not call Simon and Andrew individually but both of them together in
utilizing what they are familiar with.
Point 5:
They (fisherman) utilize ways to attract fish to come to
them.
In the same way, to reach ‘souls of men’
different ways
can be utilized as ‘fisherman for the souls of men’. Some can use evangelistic
crusades to attract people to Jesus, friendship/relational evangelism,
testimonial evangelism, narrative/story telling evangelism, evangelistic movies,
and most of all personal evangelism: Living out our life in such a way that we
become the bait to attract people to Jesus. Personal evangelism could use other
ways to reach out too. These are just some examples and are not exclusive.
Point 6:
Once fish are caught, they make them die to be used.
In the same way, once lost people are caught,
‘fisherman
for the souls of men’ make them realize that they need to ‘die to self’ and
surrender themselves completely to the Lord to be used of the Lord. It is here
‘lost people’ actually have the opportunity to give their life to Christ by
praying what many call the ‘Sinner’s Prayer’.
The difference between fish that are caught in a net and
lost people who get caught in the net of Jesus is that ‘fish cannot escape’ but
‘lost people can escape’.
What do I mean?
If they do not want to die to
themselves and be born again for Christ, they have freedom to go their own way
even after they are attracted. But if they do that they still remain lost to
Christ but alive to the world which is not a good thing in the long run. It is
also possible those lost people are attracted again sometime in the future and
decide to ‘die to themselves’ as other ‘fisherman for the souls of men’ come
along.
Point 7:
They (fisherman) clean the fish and make them available
to others.
In the same way, ‘fisherman for the souls of men’ clean
the ‘lost people’ after they ‘die to themselves’ but this cleaning is not done
without the help of the Lord. Lost people who are saved now and born again are
helped to clean their lifestyle with the help of Jesus. Jesus personally works
in their life through the power of the Holy Spirit, through His Word, through
prayer, and the community of believers.
As this continues to happen, now ‘lost people who have
been found’ are available to others to reciprocate what happened to them. Just
as fish is eaten and people get nourishment after it is available to them, in
the same way, now people who are saved can allow Jesus to work in their lives
and bring spiritual nourishment to others.
I ask you now dear friends, what
kind of profession are you in?
Dear friends, I
learned that Jesus wanted to use Simon and Andrew from what they had already
pursued and were pursuing to make an impact for the Kingdom of God. This is
awesome because no matter what you are studying, I believe that area of
academics/trade can be used by the Lord to make an impact in the Kingdom of God.
So never give up on what you want to pursue because as you pursue your academic
dream and die to yourself and become alive in Christ being willing to follow
Him, He can use you where you are at. Simon and Andrew decided to follow Jesus
and the Lord has used them in mighty ways. Even if you are in a career and not
studying, the Lord can still use you mightily.
If you have time, you can look at the function of your
profession and see how you can make an analogy to use that profession/major to reach
lost people for the Kingdom of God. There could be times the Lord could ask you
to change your profession/major completely and take you to another profession but that
can be used to bring lost people to Christ too if you have a willing spirit of
surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ.
In closing, I want to share with
you couple of true stories that happened in my life few semesters ago. To put
things into perspective, I have finished my majors in Psychology,
Administration of Justice, & Legal Studies. I now work full-time currently pursuing
a course in business which my company is willing to pay for.
How was I able to use my
profession?
There was a young guy who was drunk at the bus stop at
Forbes Ave opposite to the William Pitt Union wanting to go to Shadyside. He
asked me what bus he needed to take to go there and I kept telling him that he
was on the wrong side of the street to go to Shadyside. He was so sure he was on
the right side and just needed me to tell him the numbers. After awhile, I did
not try to persuade him anymore. Rather, I decided to read my Bible.
He comes up to me and said that he liked to read the
Bible too and told me that he loved ‘Revelation’. He asked me what my favorite
passage was and I used that opportunity to tell him one of my favorite passages
was in Proverbs 23.
Then, I asked him if he would like to read a certain
passage from there which was my favorite. He decided to read it with whatever
comprehension he had while drunk and saying what it meant to him. Then he asked
me what I thought about it.
A great idea is to ask
people if they want to read the verses you want to share with them. This
way they get to read Scriptures for themselves.
I told him psychology talks a lot about the dangers of
alcohol but the Bible already mentions them here. Finally, he looks at me and
said, “You know all these things I have experienced”. He was so awestruck with his experiences and what he was going through was already mentioned in the Bible
even before Psych books came along.
Later, he gave me his number to keep in touch and gave
me a big hug. Finally, he tells me that he was on the wrong side and decides to
go to Fifth Ave to catch the bus. This type utilized a type of evangelism more
than psychology but psychology did come into play. One of the Quiet Times I had
had to do with alcohol and is called A.L.C.O.H.O.L. which is under the previous
devotionals link.
My mission has been to
‘Counsel broken hearts with the love of Christ.” While I have had multiple
opportunities to counsel students and non-students and see their lives change for the glory of God, I have utilized the
principles I have learned in psychology but not the methodology of psychology.
Rather I have focused on
biblical counseling.
For example, a student would tell me how things were
always going wrong for her and that she could never do anything right. She feels
like she is a failure and so on. She was not a believer so I would take her to
the principle in psychology called the “Self-fulfilling prophecy” which
basically states that the more negative things we say to ourselves, naturally
those get acted upon and we are in a rut where we started at because of our
words. Then I would take her to Scripture and tell her that the Bible talks
about the words of our mouth having power to destroy or build. I would tell her
that the Lord spoke and it came to be. My basic point to her was that she needed
to watch what negative things she would say about herself to others and herself.
She was amazed.
“Please Remember Our Faithful
Encouraging Savior Sends Inspiring Omnipotent Nurture” (P.R.O.F.E.S.S.I.O.N)/”What
do you do with your profession?”
I have been able to use my profession and academic area
for the glory of God as a witnessing opportunity. You can access a lot of things
that I have written at http://www.pitt.edu/~rcrst6
too.
Friend, opportunities will come as you decide to follow
the Lord in the profession you are in. May you allow Him to work in your life!
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus thank you for the professions you have
given us. Lord, I want to thank you that no matter what my major is, you can use
me for your honor and glory to be a ‘mechanic for the souls of men’ , ‘scientist
for the souls of men’, etc regardless of what I have majored in or am majoring
in as I follow you. Thank you Lord, academics can be used for your glory for all
Truth that is out there is your truth. Lord, when we do encounter things that
are contrary to your Word please do help us. I thank you for using us to save
people into your Kingdom. Thank you for being delighted to use us. Help us to be
available for you always. And most of all help us to be teachable. Thank you for
loving us so much and dying for our sins. Thank you for coming back to life to
save us. We give our lives to you and ask you for your help. I acknowledge you
as my Lord and Personal Savior. Please be my Lord and personal Savior. Come into
my heart and make my heart your home. Live in me Jesus so I can live for you and
serve you the rest of the days of my life. Thank you Jesus for coming in and
being part of my life. Clean me Jesus as I surrender my life to you. It is not
easy for me and I need your help. Whatever your will, please give me the
willingness and strength to bear it. Thank you Jesus you have heard my prayers
and answered me. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen
Love in Christ, Ramesh
