Luke 5:4-6 NKJV
When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.
Imagine if someone invited you to accompany him on a fishing trip. On the agreed upon date, you wake up early and prepare excited looking forward to all the fun you will have catching some fish. Your friend picks you up and after hours of driving, you end up in the desert where there is not a single drop of water. You would think your friend is crazy because everybody knows that fish live in water so you needed to have gone to the lake or sea or river.
When Jesus gave us the great commission, this is what he said;
“Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations….. Marks account says “Go into all the world” The lost people who need to hear the message of the gospel are in the world and we must go to them.
Sadly, many of us sit in our comfortable churches waiting for the people to come to us instead of taking the initiative to go.
Jesus demonstrated this to us in that he went out and reached out to those who would eventually become his disciples. He did not wait for them to come to him which was the culture of the day, to approach the individual you want to disciple you.
The book of Acts tells the story of how the Gospel spread far and wide because the Apostles heeded the call to GO!
And just like different kind of fish live in different kinds of waters and require different techniques to catch, so it is with fishing for men. When we prepare well in prayer and the word of God, when we allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit, then he is able to give us different ideas and techniques to reach out to the different kinds of people and how to reach out to them. He knows who is ready and he sees the conditions of everybody’s heart. May we not depend on our own wisdom, strength and ideologies but rather may we allow him to lead us just as Jesus told Peter and his crew to cast their nets on the right side of the boat and the fish they caught were so many that their boat and that of their friends who came to lend them a helping hand both were sinking.
