Word Count: 760

Contact Jerry Ousley

Catching Fish - Part 2 - We Are Called to be Fishers of Men

by Jerry Ousley  
8/17/2012 / Christian Living

When we were just small children there came a day when my father and my cousin's father decided to go fishing. Of course we wanted to go with them. But as I said we were only small children at the time. In fact, I can just barely remember this incident. They wouldn't let us go because they wanted to do some serious fishing and they knew that with two or three small boys running around, having to bait their hooks and get them untangled, they wouldn't have time to do much else. So they told us that we couldn't go this time.

We were disappointed but boys will be boys and we got over it quickly and found something else to do. But my cousin didn't get over it quite as quickly as the rest of us did.

It seems that at his house he was nowhere to be found. His mother looked for him everywhere. He wasn't outside with the rest of us kids. Where had he gone? His mother finally found him. He was in the bathroom, miniature fishing pole in hand, standing over the commode. When his mother asked him, "What in the world are you doing?" he promptly replied, "I want to do some fishing and that's what I'm doing!" I don't remember that he actually caught anything, thank goodness, but he was doing some serious fishing!

We spoke last time about how Jesus called the disciples to be fishers of men. He was speaking of doing what we could to win souls into the Kingdom of God. It isn't about having large numbers at our gatherings and it isn't about having bragging rights as to how many we have won to the Lord. It is simply about telling others what Christ has done for us and prayerfully looking for the right opportunity to present Jesus to them in such a way that they too will "leave their nets" and follow Jesus.

Today we have classes that are supposed to equip and prepare us to win souls to Christ. I'm not saying that those things are necessarily bad. But I am saying that no matter how many classes we take, how many tapes we listen too or how many books we read about the subject, we won't catch anything unless we are determined that we are going to share Christ with others.

We tend to put this task off on preachers, teachers and other Christian workers. After all, they've studied the techniques and been trained for this sort of thing. But I submit to you that Jesus didn't make a difference between people. When He had gathered His followers shortly after His resurrection and was preparing to ascend to the Father, He told them to "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." He didn't make a difference between them. And this wasn't just the twelve mind you; according to the Apostle Paul, there were at least five hundred people gathered that day. They were all given what we have come to call "The Great Commission."

We who have come to Jesus Christ in repentance and salvation are all called to be fishers of men. As I said before, it isn't necessarily wrong to know the techniques and be trained. But techniques, methods, and training cannot compensate for a willingness to witness to others, a prayerful consideration of how God wants us to do it, and asking God to open doors so that we can present the Gospel in a way that will gain interest.

When we are fishing we can study to know just what each breed of fish likes to eat. We can buy sonar equipment that will let us know where the fish are in the water. We can purchase fancy artificial baits and have fancy boats, fishing gear and equipment. But unless that fish opens its mouth and swallows the bait we aren't going to catch a thing.

Your life; your witness, your story is what those around you need to hear. When Jesus called the disciples to be fishers of men they took nothing with them. They dropped what they had and followed Jesus. I believe that more of us need to stop concentrating on the equipment, the techniques and all the training and just live our lives in such a way that men are drawn to us. When they are, they will ask us about our story. At that point they have taken the bait and all you've got to do is to real them in!

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-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! Click here and TRUST JESUS NOW

Read more articles by Jerry Ousley

Like reading Christian Articles? Check out some more options. Read articles in Main Site Articles, Most Read Articles or our highly acclaimed Challenge Articles. Read Great New Release Christian Books for FREE in our Free Reads for Reviews Program. Or enter a keyword for a topic in the search box to search our articles.

Enter comments below. Due to spam, all hyperlinks posted in the comments are now immediately disabled by our system.

Please type the following word below:

Not readable? Change text.

The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

Hire a Christian Writer, Christian Writer Wanted, Christian Writer Needed, Christian Content Needed, Find a Christian Editor, Hire a Christian Editor, Christian Editor, Find a Christian Writer