Goin' Fishin'
Matthew 4:18-19 (The Message): "Walking along the beach
of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon (later
called Peter) and Andrew. They were fishing, throwing
their nets into the lake. It was their regular work.
Jesus said to them, 'Come with me. I'll make a new kind
of fisherman out of you. I'll show you how to catch men
and women instead of perch and bass.'" [1]
When the weather starts to warm up here in Northeast
Tennessee some people get spring fever and start to
think about goin'; fishin'. There are quite a few
streams, rivers and lakes to make these people happy. As
Christians, we don't have to wait for a certain time of
year. Jesus commands us to go fishing all the time.
What are some basic ways of fishing and how can we
relate to these as we become new fishermen?
We can see in the Scripture above that Peter and Andrew
were commercial fishermen. They threw their nets in and
then hauled whatever got caught into the boat. On the
day of Pentecost Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit,
preached to many people. He was throwing out the net.
You may be called to throw out the net by a number of
ways. You might be called to preach in a church or even
out in the open on a street corner.
One way I have heard of people fishing is by using a
"trot line". It is heavy twine or such with sinkers and
baited hooks on it. Each end is tied to something on the
bank and then left in the water. Later the fisherman
goes back to see if he caught anything. I liken this
type of fishing to handing out tracts or pamphlets. You
find places where people might have time to pick up
something to read and leave a tract there. You may not
know if they reach anyone but then we don't have to know
because God knows and that is all that matters.
The most common type of fishing is with a rod and reel.
For the new fisherman this is like personal witnessing.
AS someone has to learn how to fish this way you will
also need to learn either by practice or by watching
someone else talk to someone about Jesus. Some people
are not patient fishermen. They always have to be
changing lures, etc. These people might bombard the
person they are witnessing to with a lot of stuff which
drives them away. Some people like to go to the creek
bank and just let the line stay in the water until a
fish decides to bite. This is probably the most
effective way of witnessing. You first become friends
with the person then slowly witness to them without
being pushy.
With technology today there are a number of ways we can
go fishing. There is the Internet, e-mail and instant
messaging which can be used to reach those who don't
know Jesus. We need to use whatever way the Lord leads
us to use. The main thing is that we all need to go
fishing.
There are many people out there that need Jesus Christ.
Let's go fishing!
Dean W. Masters
Unedited redistribution approved
What is the meaning of life? Find out on the Masters
List
masterslist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com