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Catching Fish - Part 3 - How Can I Catch People for Christ?
by Jerry Ousley As a teenager I wanted to work for the Lord. I had committed my life to Him and all I could think about was learning more about Him and working in His vineyard. The church I was attending at the time decided to take a Saturday and pass out tracts. I teamed up with a couple of buddies and we began going house to house. We didn't know the right words to say to ask them to become Christians and to be honest with you we were a bit intimidated and scared. As we went we came upon a man walking down the street. We stopped him and gave him a tract. As it turned out this man was an atheist and he let us know in no uncertain terms that he wanted nothing to do with what we were passing out. Again, we were intimidated and scared and so we let this man go on up the street as we continued knocking on doors and giving out our tracts. After a while we came to a house with a wrought iron fence around it. The fence was locked and so we couldn't go up to the house. So we decided to leave a tract woven in the bars of the gate. We began to walk away, and wouldn't you know it the same man who had given us "down the road" a few blocks back came running out of his house shouting profanities telling us that he told us that he wanted nothing to do with what we were passing out. We started to run. We didn't know what this man might do. Needless to say, we called it a day and went back to the church building. The point is that we did have a desire to let people know about Jesus. We just didn't know that more often than not we win people with our day to day witness. I'm not saying that it is wrong to pass out tracts or go door to door telling people about Jesus. But I am saying that the most effective witness we could ever have is the one we live day to day. Fishing requires us to be at or on a body of water. Why; because that's where the fish are. We can't say, "Well I'd love to be a fisherman if I could catch them in the living room or the back yard." That's just silly. If we want to go fishing and catch fish we've got to go to a river, pond, lake or ocean. That's where the fish are. So to catch men we've got to do it where they are. We find them where we work, where we play, and where we eat. They are in the marketplace. But they are not usually in our places of worship or in our homes. Whether we realize it or not God has placed us in a mission field each and every day of our lives. We touch people. How we touch them could decide their eternal fate. Now we wouldn't probably catch many fish standing on the street corner telling people that if they don't make it right with God they are going to hell. There was a day and time for that type of witnessing but it does little good in our modern day. More than likely you'd be labeled as a fanatical nutcase. What we have to do is to realize that each day of our lives is a new day to witness for Christ. We begin by living our lives in an exemplary fashion that reflects Him in our daily duties. How we react in front of people tells them something. I can't be fitful in an angry rage and turn around and talk about God's love. People would have a hard time believing me. That doesn't mean we can't get mad but it does mean that we've got to reflect Christ even in our anger. I can't tell people how much God will change their lives and then steal, cheat, and embezzle. I've got to reflect the teachings of Christ in my financial transactions or people won't believe me. Fishing takes patience. Unless you throw a stick of dynamite into the water killing the fish and making them float up to the surface you've got to throw in a net or fishing line and wait. It is the same with catching men. You bait your hook with the Gospel and live your life as an example then wait until God opens the door to share what Christ has done for you. That's how to catch men. Are you ready to fish for men? Is your hook baited with the Gospel of Christ? Is your life an example of Jesus? Follow Him and He will make you fishers of men. Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |