Fishing for Men Luke 5:11 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
In order to get started Fishing for Men and in order to catch them [v.10] you have to do three things:
Finish – “when they had brought their ships to land” – they were in the middle of the biggest catch they had ever seen – they didn’t drop unfinished business – they finished the business at hand and then they took up fishing for men – the last two to three years have been spent finishing up some business obligations that have been distractions to fishing for men full-time – we finished up the website overhaul, the radio broadcast, the modular buildings, the sale of some assets, the design of the new building, my shoulder surgery, etc to make time for more fishing for men – we’ve been doing some occasional fishing but we’re now in a position to do a lot more – there are some things going on in your life that the Lord wants you to finish up – people are prone to say, “when I get ‘this’ behind me, I’ll have more time for ‘that’ and then I plan to really dedicate some time to whatever ‘that’ is” – well, as the saying goes, “git ‘er done” – it’s time to bring your ship to land and get out of that boat – Jesus finished his carpentry business and went into the ministry never looking back
Forsake – “they forsook all” – Peter and Andrew left their nets [Matt 4:20], James and John left their ship and their father [Matt 4:22], Jesus left his glory above [2 Cor 8:9], etc – in Mark 10:28, Peter said, “Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee” – these men dedicated their lives to the work of fishing for men – and in order to do that they had to cut their ties with some other things – what’s going on in your life that you need to forsake in order to be able to fish for men? – the time you save on the thing you forsake should be filled with time fishing for men!
Follow – “and followed him” – you have to follow Jesus in this endeavor because he knows this work better than you do – he knows where the fish are and he knows when and how to catch them [v.5; Jn 21:3-6] – guides call each other to get fishing reports so that they can have successful trips – likewise, you can pray and the Lord will lead you to souls – several years ago, Randy and I were given a tip on where to catch fish under certain circumstances – on a particular day recently the conditions were right but we couldn’t find the fish – we didn’t quit because we knew they were there – in time we found them and caught a mess – we had long ago followed the advice of someone who knew how and where to catch them and we still fish there and still come home with fish
Conclusion: Soon we will begin our Bible outreach – we’ll call it “Fishing for Men” – in preparation for this venture you need to do the three things that the disciples did and you shall “catch men,” [v.10].