Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 159

June 8;    Matthew 4:19;    4/260(III);    ‘Fishers of Men’

Matthew 4:19 Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Andrew and Peter had already met Jesus in John 1.  There was a call upon their lives to be Jesus’ disciples.  When Jesus called them, they were casting their nets into the sea to catch fish, that was what they did to make a living.  Andrew and Peter had to know the Lord had a call on their life and that is why they immediately followed Him.  Once a person knows the Lord is calling them into the ministry, they must make the decision if they will answer that call.  These two brothers had made the decision to leave their occupation and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.  I know that when the Lord began to deal with me concerning attending Bible School, I had to decide if I would leave the very good secular job that I had.  In a relatively short period of time I had fallen in love with the Lord and the only thing I desired to do was to follow Him and become a fisher of men.  Andrew and Peter were called to full time ministry and they answered the call.  The truth is that we are all called to be fishers of men.  You may not be called by the Lord to leave your secular job.  He may want you to remain where you are and share the gospel with everyone that you can.  The Bible calls all of us ministers of reconciliation.  Here is the key.  If we will follow the Lord Jesus.  The word ‘follow’ means to follow closely, to be serious about following our Lord.  If we will do this by the Word, prayer, worship and church, the greatest desire of our lives will be to be a fisher of men.