PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Matthew 4:18-22
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.” (Matthew 4:19)
I sense the Spirit using these words to re-call me.
As if Jesus were walking by me and clearly said ‘follow me’.
I’ve been trying to follow Jesus for years, what is different about this call?
“I will send you out to fish for people.” (Matthew 4:19)
What stands out for me here is the focus on people… and not on the church.
My natural ‘work mode’ is building or managing the church.
They say church is the people, but that is not where I am often pulled.
It takes a lot of time, energy and focus to keep the church machine going.
I hear in these words the Lord’s priority: ‘draw people to me, and to God!’
To fish for people for Jesus: to go where they are, to take steps to connect with them.
To use the ‘bait’ or ‘net’ of God’s goodness, that is, the good news grace of Jesus.
To use whatever tools and skills I have to woo and win them to Jesus.
These reflections may seem strange to you, but to me they are very relevant.
It is as if I am hearing Jesus clearly saying this, and I need to respond.
PRAYER
Lord, I sense this is your word to me. Help me to respond “at once” and “immediately”, and not be distracted by other voices luring me elsewhere.
“At once” and “immediately” is how we are commanded to follow. If I’m ever unclear on how to proceed, the answer is usually that obedience is needed “at once & immediately”.
Fishing was their livelihood, maybe their passion, their families depended on their success but they didn’t hesitate to follow.
Jesus calls “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” When did I get the call? – when did I get the sense of mission in life – that life is more that what is and what I could achieve for myself? Early on, I had successes but that is not what motivated me. I felt mostly like an outsider at secular high- but I had my church community of young people – and close friends. But I became convicted to Jesus – and that changed how I viewed things – I started to have a sense of mission and saw that achieving financial success is not the goal even though I was rewarded many times for my work as I saved up for university. In my university years I had a strong sense of mission as I was preparing to go overseas. It is that call that continue to drive me even as we faced challenges many times. Jesus is calling and continues to lead me to new challenges each day! He needs fisher-persons!
All for Jesus.
He needs to be my focus.
All in His name. I am not my own but belong to Him.
I need to walk this day as His follower. Others need to see my walk with Him.
His Light needs to shine through me – Christian by name – following my Saviour doing His will.
1 All for Jesus! All for Jesus!
All my being’s ransomed pow’rs,
all my thoughts and words and doings,
all my days and all my hours.
2 Let my hands perform his bidding,
let my feet run in his ways;
let my eyes see Jesus only,
let my lips speak forth his praise.
3 Worldlings prize their gems of beauty,
cling to gilded toys of dust,
boast of wealth and fame and pleasure;
only Jesus will I trust.