April 2 I Saturday

Judges 16-18

Luke 7:1-30

“Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” —Luke 5:10

When Jesus said to Peter, Andrew, James and John, “Come, follow Me, and I will send you out to fish for people” (Mark 1:17). This was an invitation and a promise. The invitation was, “Come, follow Me,” which is not an invitation to become a Christian, but to work together with Christ. In fact, “follow Me” is like a code word for discipleship, where discipleship is keeping in step with Jesus by being where He is and doing what He does. The promise Jesus makes is “I will send you out to fish for people.” These disciples were fishermen so this was a natural analogy to use with them. The difference between fishing for fish and fishing for men is when we fish for fish, we catch what is alive and it dies. But when we fish for people, we catch what is spiritually dead in order that they might become spiritually alive.

      There were two occasions recorded in the Gospels when the disciples were fishing and caught nothing, but Jesus told them to let their nets out on the other side. Both times, the disciples were a little bit resistant and skeptical; yet, when they followed through with what Jesus said, they caught a massive number of fish and were greatly surprised.

      Stories of Jesus intervening and telling fishermen how to fish demonstrate that fishing is not just a matter of learning a few techniques and tactics. Rather, it is learning to live in union and obedience to Christ. When we fish our own way, we will not catch anything because we reduce it to technique. When Jesus makes us fishers of people, He puts us in the right place at the right time. There is a reason why revivals and movements of God rarely live beyond a generation. Because when God works, we become excited and do not want to lose it, so we reduce what God does to a formula or pattern, which becomes a tradition and is dead.

      Jesus tells us, “Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, My servant also will be” (John 12:26). What does it mean to follow? To keep in step with Him, where the fixed point is not “where we are, Jesus will be” but “where Jesus is, we will be.” If we are not where Jesus is, we are not serving Him and our service will not be fruitful and effective. When it comes to effective serving and following Christ, we ought to keep in step with Jesus, even if it takes us away from what we anticipate doing.

Prayer: Precious Jesus, where You are, I will be. I am ready to go where You lead me. Help me to keep in step with Your leading. Thank You, Lord.