Called To Fish not to Loaf

1 Samuel 19; 1 Chronicles 7; Psalm 59; Matthew 4
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Scripture

Matthew 4

18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 20 And they left their nets at once and followed him.

21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. 22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.

Observation

Jesus was a carpenter, but He was also the Greatest Fisherman! Jesus told Peter, Andrew, James and John to come and follow Him and He would make them catch bigger fish than they had ever caught before! And they did!

Fish are smelly. Fishing for a living is also hard. You have to fish at night when it is cold and dreary. You get tired. There are many nights when you don’t catch anything. I know because my Dad, my brother and I were commercial fishermen. We fished for Pompano and we fished on the weekends mainly and it was never our only source of income … thank goodness!

Fishing takes skill that must be learned. Peter, Andrew, James and John had learned how to fish from their fathers and now they were going to learn how to fish for men from Jesus. You can read about one of His lessons that He taught His disciples about fishing in John 4 when He went through Samaria just to fish for one woman at a well. She got caught and then she brought her entire town to Jesus. She was a quick learner.

How are we doing at fishing for men? Are you out there where you can catch one for Jesus? I sure hope you haven’t retired from fishing! Retirement is one of Satan’s biggest tools and one of his biggest lies. Some people get to the age where they have time to do some fishing full time for Jesus and then they buy into the Devil’s lie - they wander off wasting their extra time on pleasures: vacations, cruises, they become mountain recluses, or they just sit at home and waste away. What a shame!

Just when they could be the most valuable for Jesus they vegetate on the sidelines. They become totally worthless just at the time when they have the most to offer! They should be fishing! They could help at church, but they don’t even make it to church every Sunday now because they are too busy using their time on themselves rather than focusing on the things of the kingdom.

Need somewhere to fish? How about coming down to Mission Tampa and helping us fish? We need volunteers. We have plenty of fish that come to us every week for help. Mondays from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm; Tuesdays from 5 pm – 7 pm; Thursdays from 5 pm – 7 pm.

Application

I will encourage people that are loafing to get back to fishing.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray for Mission Tampa today. Bless every volunteer that gives his or her time every week to further Your kingdom through this ministry. I pray for more laborers for the harvest. And I pray that you would help us to be good fishermen as we share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the people that come into Mission Tampa. Bless Joann, Jene, and Mike and all the others that serve so faithfully every week at Mission Tampa. May this ministry continue to grow and continue to be used to reach people for Jesus. Amen.

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