Fishing For People
Ask: What are ways that people catch fish?
Have you ever been fishing? It can be a fun, and sometimes frustrating challenge, trying to find out where the fish are and what they want to eat. Many of us fish for fun or to have one to eat for dinner but there are some people who fish as a job. They catch fish to sell to grocery stores and restaurants for other people to buy and eat. This was the job of the very first men that Jesus called as disciples, and there is a whopper of a fish story to go with it.
Read: Luke 5:1-11
The number of fish these fishermen caught that day with Jesus is amazing, but it wasn’t about helping their fishing business. Jesus used this miracle to call them to follow him and become “fishers of people.” No, it doesn’t mean that we go out with a fishing pole or net to drag people to church. It means that we do and say things that point others to Jesus. There are many things that we can do to be fishers: we can pray for people, we can treat them with love and respect, we can tell them about Jesus, we can invite them to church where they will experience the love and joy of the family of God. As we do these things, we trust the Holy Spirit to help them choose Jesus and become his followers, too.
In Matthew’s telling of this story, Jesus tells the guys, “…I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19) Jesus doesn’t just say “Go fish.” Instead, he tells us that he is going to help us become fishermen. We can trust him to help us know what to do and say so that others will see him. So who can you “fish” for today?
Prayer: Jesus, thank you for helping me to fish for people. Help me to point someone to you today. Amen.