Thursday, December 30, 2010

Letting Down Our Nets For a Catch...

As we continue to look at Luke 5:1-11...

The writer tells us that the fishermen were "washing their nets". Interpretation? They were calling it quits. They were punching out their time card,calling it a day.
Have we washed out our nets, called it quits, punched out our time card, called it a day concerning our efforts to catch men for Christ? Tell the truth now. Are you expecting a great catch, or have you given up? This is where Christ steps in and orders the fishermen to let down the nets for a catch! Not when they were doing great, catching fish, but when they had given up! Yes, it seems that the perfect time to step in and do His amazing work is when man gives up trying on his own!

First, we hear the words of Christ "let down the nets for a catch", or "the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few", or "The Son of man came to seek and to save the lost", or "Go, therefore, making disciples...". Listen, this is our work, to let down the nets for a catch. Remember the woman at the well(John 4), after talking with Jesus? She ran into town, and threw out her fishing net!
How did she throw it out?
"Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did!"
Are we throwing our nets out like this?
You see, this woman was so excited about Who she met, that she could not keep her mouth shut! Here we see that fishing for men is the natural overflow of an affected heart. What happens when she throws her net out? When someone is excited about Jesus Christ, Who He is, what He has done for them, people are drawn. After the woman told them this "they went out of the town and were coming to him(Jesus)".
Sometimes we Christians expect the fish to jump into our boat, even while the boat is at the shoreline. We expect the town to come running while we are saying nothing at all. The only way for the lost to know that God is interested in "catching" them is if we are interested in catching them. Unfortunately, too often we Christians don't want to get our hands all fishy! I have gone fishing with some who are hoping they don't catch anything, because if they do then they'll have to touch it to release it from their pole! But we must not forget that we were that smelly, yucky, slimy fish that Christ caught and made his own. Let us consider one more thought. What kind of net are we? What do our nets look like to the world around us? Are they overwhelming, tangled and confusing? Are they harsh and fearsome? Or are these nets at least presented as the Great News from God to man?

I am blabbing this blog to myself here...,

Be encouraged to open up your mouth wherever you find yourself this week, and let down your net for a catch!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Jesus, The Great Fisher of Men!

A few thoughts on Luke 5:1-11, a text in which Jesus Christ illustrates to us what is of great importance to Him. Rescuing men! Redeeming men! Jesus came to earth to die for man! And he has appointed all of His redeemed people to be "fishers of men".

Simon Peter, a fisherman by trade, and one who had his Master's Degree(MDiv)in fishing, put all of his knowledge, all of his skill, all of his experienced energy, into catching fish, but came up with empty nets. And he wasn't alone. The rest of the fishermen came up with nothing that night as well.
What happens next? Jesus comes along, steps into the fishing boat parked at the shore, and after teaching the people, orders the fishermen to head out into deep waters, and to let their nets down "for a catch", not a try, but "a catch". Simon gives his prideful response of "Hey, we busted our backs, toiling all night long and caught nothing", but then obeys the word of Christ and lets down the nets.

Jesus fills the nets up with so many fish that all of the fishermen available are necessary to work together to bring the catch into the boat!
All of the fishermen are "astonished" at the catch of fish! Peter then realizes in some measure Who it is that he is with, and falls on his knees in worship.
Then Jesus, whom Peter was worshiping, the Almighty Who filled the nets to the breaking point, says "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." He does not say merely trying, fishing for men, but "catching men".

A couple of things to notice here: our Savior ordered a LARGE catch, a ridiculous amount of fish such that both boats began to sink, requiring a lot of help from other fishermen! Most notably, it was not Peter's skill that brought in the fish, but Jesus Christ who brought the fish into the net, Who rules over the will of fish and men.
One word of God and the fish are drawn into the net...

So then, what about us, God's fishermen? One word of God and Manfish will be drawn into the net of salvation. Let us humble ourselves, for we do not have the knowledge, nor the power to be effective fishers of men. What must we do?
First, let us ask God for a catch. Secondly, we let down the nets.

And Jesus wants us to be confident that a great catch is on the way...

Coming soon... "What does it look like to let down the nets for a catch?"

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Are You Fishing Yet?

When I was in my pre teen years, I read all about fishing, all of the time!
Fishing Facts magazine was always in my hand. The magazine taught what, where, when, and how to catch freshwater fish. Cold weather fish, warm weather fish, deep water fish, shallow water fish, all were taught about in this magazine.
I bought special lures, spinners, spoons, plugs, worms, and whatever promised to land me the BIG GUY!
The best part was not reading about fishing however. I went fishing! I went fishing in lakes, in ponds, everywhere, but the BIG GUY knew how to avoid my line much better than I knew how to land him on it!
Even though the BIG GUY was better at the game than me, I still managed to catch a few decent sized fish over the years.

"Okay, so what's with the title?" "Are You Fishing Yet?"

Jesus spoke to two real and experienced fisherman, Simon , and his brother Andrew "Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. At once they left their nets and followed him." (Mark 1:17). They went fishing with the Master Fisherman.

We believers are the fishers of men that Jesus Christ has appointed.
At least we already know the nature of the manfish. He is in his nature what we were in our nature. We know what manfish likes,what he hates, what he is prone to feed on, where he hides, what he avoids, how he fights, how resistant he is, and how difficult he can be to land. We were the manfish! But even though we know this manfish even as we know ourselves, yet we cannot land the manfish that we know so well!
For we do not know which manfish are looking to be landed! Yet, unlike fish in lakes and rivers, there actually are manfish desperately looking to be pulled in. We do not know which manfish are searching the waters of their world, hoping to find exactly what we have on the end of our line. And even if we knew which manfish were ready for the taking, we must have the proper lure.
How shall we catch them? With God's lure, the gospel lure. The gospel is how they are caught! God rules over the heart of all manfish, and He alone draws out the manfish that will strike at our line as we cast out God's appointed lure, the gospel of grace. This gospel lure must be the real thing. And we will catch them, not with a baited and hidden hook, manipulating and snagging them, but with Jesus Christ. He is the Gospel! Yes, these God appointed menfish have a God given hunger for, and are in search of Jesus Christ. When they see Him, they are attracted to Him, even more so, He is irresistable to them. They hear of Jesus sacrificial, death defying, atoning love, His mercy, His kindness, His full forgiveness, His sure promises, and His altogether immeasurable unearned favor, yes, all of this, pointed toward them, all of Jesus Christ Himself, moving forward to embrace them. And here is the amazing truth about it all. Christ does this through us, His fishermen! These menfish are drawn to Christ through us. For we are Jesus Christ's representatives, and through us they see the character of Christ, and hear and embrace the beautiful good news of Christ, the gospel! Yes, they come and are joyfully caught in plenty.

Jesus said "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." Can we not say with Jesus "The manfish ar plentiful, but the manfishers are few."?

Jesus told them "Come" and they left everything and followed Him, learning how to be manfishers! Are you fishing yet?