Come and Follow and Be Fishers of Men! – EP31
Matthew 4:18
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
Hello, and welcome back to the One Thing podcast! Today I would like to share just a short story that many of us are probably familiar with; it’s the story of when Jesus was first calling out His disciples to come and follow Him. So, we look at Matthew 4:18. It says,
“As Jesus was walking beside the sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ At once, they left their nets and followed Him.”
It’s so beautiful to see how Jesus sees Peter there. He sees Andrew and they’re fishing. These guys are fishermen, and they know all about fishing: what it is to have the right net, what it is to have the right bait, how to bring the fish in and take them out of the waters.
"Come and follow me and I'm going to make you fishermen!"
So we see Jesus taking the opportunity to call them, and He says, “Come and follow me and I'm going to make you fishermen, not for the fish that you're drawing out of the water, but for people. I'm going to change what you're doing right now if you come and follow me. I'm going to call you out of that old, ordinary life where you're doing what everybody else is doing. I'm going to call you into something spectacular, into my kingdom where you're going to be bringing people out of darkness, literally rescuing them.”
"They left it all to follow the one who is worth everything..."What I found really funny is that Jesus is calling them to be fishermen for people, but at the same time Jesus was fishing at that very moment. You see, He was the one who was calling them to come and follow Him. He was casting the line of His Word. He was casting out the line of His call and His destiny for these two men. And what was so wonderful, as we know, it says that they left their nets behind. They began to follow Jesus, and we know how the story goes with Peter and Andrew and all the other disciples.
They left it all to follow the one who is worth everything: the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. For them, Jesus was a bright and shining light. That day He called them, their hearts were caught by His words. Their hearts were caught by the light that He was shining.
"Does Jesus catch our heart today? Does His Word draw you nearer?"Does Jesus catch your heart today? Does the Lord Jesus— when you hear His name, when you think of His Word— does it draw you nearer? Does it cause you to throw down your net? Does it cause you to put away everything else to follow Him and to look to Him?
So praise God today that this call still goes forth! Jesus says, “Come and follow me. Come and follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people because I have rescued you. As you follow me, my light will shine in you and you will also shine for others.”
Will you hear his voice today and will you throw down the nets and come? Come and beckon the call out of this ordinary life, and come into the extraordinary kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.