Mark 1:16-20 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

John gives us the background to this story, explaining in John 1:35-42 that this wasn’t Jesus’ first encounter with these men. They had probably been thinking about Jesus a lot since that first encounter. Jesus’ challenge to them recorded here gave them the courage to follow through on the impulse that had doubtless been building in them. It’s interesting to note from John’s record that with both pairs of brothers it was the younger who first believed. John and Andrew, though young, were already counted as disciples of John the Baptist, even though they continued their work as fishermen. Sometimes we forget that in those days boys were considered men once they had their bar mitzva, and were expected to enter a trade. The much shorter life expectancy tended to put everything into a rush. In any case, it was a major decision to leave an established occupation in order to follow an itinerant preacher. The metaphor Jesus used here is significant because of how it related to his hearers on multiple levels. In the first place is the obvious one: they were already professional fishermen. The Japanese expression here, though longer than the English, makes it a little clearer that Jesus wasn’t telling them to change their occupation exactly, but rather the purpose of their activity. The second level, to me, is that these men realized they had already been “netted” by their first encounter with Jesus. I think that gave them a glimpse of just what Jesus meant by “fishers of men.” I think that’s worth our deep consideration. How were we “caught” by Jesus? He wants us to do that for others as well. That’s why personal testimony is so important in evangelism. Just expressing theories and principles isn’t very convincing, but it’s hard to argue with personal experience.

I can’t duplicate for someone else my own experience of growing up in a genuinely Christian home, but I can share my interactions with my Lord since then. Just yesterday I had the opportunity to tell again the story of how I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, and months later received the gift of tongues. The confirmation for me that God had indeed been true to His Word and baptized me in His Spirit was when I realized that I was talking to a total stranger about Jesus, and Acts 1:8 came to mind. I have had many other personal encounters with God, and those are what I seek to share. As someone with Teacher gifting I tend to be heavy on the “theories and principles” side, but as I said, that’s not very convincing. I am never to draw back from sharing what God has done for me, whether I think that puts me in a good light or not. After all, Jesus has given me His Spirit to be His witness!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all the “body life” that went on here yesterday, with the Taiwan team here for the service, for the pot luck lunch afterward, and for the ministry that continued while I had to go upstairs to do premarital counseling. Thank You for all You are doing in and among us! I pray that all the believers would wake up to their privilege of being Your agents to draw others into Your family, for the sake of the Body of Christ and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!