Best Seat In The House
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people. (Luke 5.10)
When we read the Gospels, we discover that the disciples found the best seat in the house by choosing to accept the challenge of Jesus to invest their lives in others. Remember how Jesus came into the marketplace at the docks. There he found some commercial fishermen. He asked them to allow him to use one of their boats as a teaching platform.
After he finished teaching the people, he gave them an invitation: “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” He was asking them to give up their seats in their fishing boats for something better, something more lasting, to invest their lives in others. (Luke 5:1-13).
“And He said to them, ‘Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men’ ” (Luke 4:19). The Bible has a lot of stories involving fish and fishermen. Even Jesus fished. He told others how to do it and where to do it! Not only that, He took a group of fishermen and molded them into fishers of men! Maybe that’s why I like the gospel so much. If you stop and think for a moment, that’s what the church is about. The folks I worship with have learned some things about fishing. We know we are not going to catch all the fish, nor are we going to land all the fish that we hook. We’ve learned you can’t force the fish or the line will snap. We also have learned to try new and different lures and baits in the different waters in which we are fishing and in doing so, we have started to catch fish! That’s why the church exists–to fish and catch fish. That’s our goal. We can never allow any other activities to be substituted for or move us from our one goal–fishing. Sometimes it’s easy to get sidetracked in the everyday events of the work of fishing. Nets need mending and sharks need to be shot. Granted, both of these need attention, but they can’t become our focus. We need to keep fishing to get some action and reward! Let us cast the lure of the gospel in the waters of the lost world and trust in Jesus that we will have a large catch!
Will you accept the invitation?
Dear God, show me the way to the best seat that you have reserved for me. In Jesus name, Amen.
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