Matthew 4:19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

Yesterday I went fishing with Cheryl, my brother, and a friend of his. We went out with a guide on Lake Texoma. I’ve known this guide for over twenty years. A member of one of the congregations in our circuit used to own a marina on the lake, and he would have his guides take the circuit pastors out fishing once a year. That is a perk I definitely enjoyed. And this guide is a great fellow.

He called me the day before we were scheduled to go and said the fishing was not good. He had fished four days last week and they only caught fish on one of them. In fact, he normally fishes for stripers, but said we would be fishing for sand bass instead. I was fine with that, because I like sand bass.

When we went out, it was an overcast day. We fished for two and a half hours without a single fish. Even though it was a beautiful day on the water, everyone was a bit discouraged, especially our guide. We had wandered all over the lake, and he decided to go back to one of the first spots we tried. As soon as he pulled up, the sun started shining. We saw birds diving down for bait fish. We saw splashes of the fish coming up for the bait fish. We cast out and I caught a fish right away. Then everyone else started catching fish. Nice fish. Big fish. And everyone’s attitude started to change. We ended up with a nice catch.

As I was reflecting on this, I wonder how often we get discouraged as fishers of men. It seems as though our efforts are in vain. We try and try and don’t seem to get any results. Maybe we need to concentrate on letting the Son shine through us. When you share Jesus and His love, the Spirit will work to lead others to faith. Those who know that Jesus is the Savior of all, that He gave His life so that we could be forgiven, have been called to share that message with the world. You and I don’t have to save anyone. Jesus already did that. All we need to do is share the Good News we know. We are simply the instruments. God is the one doing something.

1 Corinthians 3:6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.

Some translations say “but God gave the increase.” He is the one who will increase “the catch.”