Fishing is more than just catching

I remember the days when I used to work summers on the fishing boats down the shores. Each morning I would welcome fishermen and tourists as they came aboard the boat for a day of deep-sea fishing. As these people waited for the boat to leave the docks, they would often talk with me about fishing. Usually we would discuss how the fishing had been and what was biting. Sometimes these people would look at me and ask, “I know fishing hasn’t been great, but you guarantee that we’ll catch something, right?”

I would, as gently as I could, explain to them that the only guarantee in fishing is that there are no guarantees. I would also tell them that, if every time they went out and caught fish, then they would call it catching rather than fishing. I usually closed by informing them that there is much more to fishing than just catching so they should be ready to enjoy the trip no matter what.

When Christ walked the earth, He spent a lot of time with fishermen. These were men that had been through many fishing experiences and they were seasoned fishermen. They realized the truth that fishing is more than just catching fish.

As Christ walked along the Sea of Galilee one day, he called out to these men, “Follow Me and I will make you become fishers of men!” The Bible tells us that these men left their equipment, families and livelihood and followed. These simple men were being called to something more than a fishing trip; they were being called to begin a journey to become all that God wanted them to be. They were being called to become disciples.

We are also called to follow and be made fishers of men. We are on a journey called discipleship. God desires to make us into all that He has made us to be and He will do it if we simply follow Christ.

We can learn a lot about becoming a “Fisher of Men” from fishing. Just as there is more to fishing than catching, there is more to becoming a fisher of men than leading people to Christ. It is about a daily commitment to follow Christ and allow Him grow us to look more like him.

Just as many fishermen miss the joy in fishing by thinking it is merely about catching fish, I think we, as followers of Christ, get too hung up on what we think God needs to do in our spiritual lives, rather than allowing him to work in and through us for his purpose. We often miss out because we put blinders onto what God can and will do. We forget to enjoy the journey, as we merely focus on results.

God desires to teach us a lot about himself, us, and how He works, but we must be flexible enough to put aside our agendas and allow Him to set His.

Here are a few tips to remember in our journey to become Fishers of Men:

Mark 1:17 (ESV)
¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men."

We are to follow Jesus

When Jesus called these first followers He simply called them to follow. He did not call them to make themselves worthy or do anything to “pull their weight,” rather He called them to follow. Following Jesus is not as easy as it sounds because we often make it more difficult. Sometimes we want to go ahead of Jesus and His plans. We do this because tend to get impatient. Other times we drift to the left or right as we follow, wandering off to something that looks or sounds interesting. We tend to do this because we tend to think we know better.

This call to follow means simply trusting Jesus for everything. We are to trust him with our identity, our safety, our present and our future. It is amazing how much easier life gets when we simply follow.

It is the power of God that changes us

This little statement by Jesus to his first followers is huge. He told these fishermen that HE would make them. The work of making us more like Jesus is work of Jesus. It is through his power that change comes to our lives. We place ourselves there by merely following, trusting him fully.

We miss the power to change that comes from Jesus because we tend to want to make ourselves through our own efforts. This hard work to grow is ingrained in our lives from an early age. We earn grades in school, earn acceptance from parents and teachers through right behavior, we work hard and we get ahead. This comes to our spiritual lives through certain accepted practices, Christian disciplines that guarantee growth.

God does not work on this economy. When we trust in his power and work, we begin to see his purpose – to show his power and glory in and through us so that all of creation would worship him.

Becoming a fisher of men is a process

Jesus shared with his first followers that this process of becoming more like him would be just that, a process. In following Jesus we are immediately changed into a new creation, but we are also being transformed to look more like Him. Change in our attitudes, values and actions do not take place over night, but over time in following Jesus. Just as a child grows into a mature adult, Jesus desires to mature us.

We can get impatient and want to grow up faster than we should. We need to remember we will grow at the pace God has for us as we trust and follow Him.

Good Fishing!