Anyone Going Fishing?

In Luke chapter 5 verses 1-6 we find the account of Jesus giving instructions to the disciples on catching fish.  They’re washing their nets when Jesus approaches because they’re finished for the day.  They’ve fished all night and caught nothing.  Keep in mind that they are professional fishermen.  This is how they make their living.   

Fishermen in Jesus’ day used big corded nets that were easily seen by the fish in the daylight hours.  The fish could not see the net falling down around them at night and were easily trapped. Here it is now daylight and He wants them to try again.

At His urging they go back out and cast their net into the sea.  Quickly the net was filled with fish to the point of breaking.  They are amazed and marvel that this carpenter turned Rabbi would know more about catching fish than them.  Do you and I realize He still knows more about catching fish than we do?  There are some simple lessons in this story for you and I about fishing today.

One, take the time and prepare.  They were cleaning their nets when He approached.  If a net wasn’t kept clean it would rot in a very short time.  Trying to pull in a net full of fish with a rotten net would surely lead to losing the catch.  The analogy for us is that we need to keep our nets clean too.  How’s our prayer life, are we studying His word daily to make sure our hearts are clean?  As the old preacher said, “we need to be fessed up, prayed up, and charged up to reach people for Christ”!

Second, we need to go where the fish are.  I haven’t been on any fishing trips where the fish just jumped in the boat while it was still in the garage!  We have to go where they are.  We can’t just hang out an ‘Everyone Welcome’ sign and expect folks to jump in our church.  Last time I checked, fish don’t want to be caught.  As a matter of fact, they will try and avoid you.  Jesus told them where to throw the net.  We need to ask the Holy Spirit to lead us to where the fish are.  He knows.

Thirdly, a fisherman has to cast his net.  Fish just don’t jump into the net while it’s in the boat.  We’ve got to throw it out.  That may mean passing out flyers, going door to door inviting, sending mail outs, making phone calls, or giving personal invitations to those we know.  It can mean taking out newspaper ads, running radio spots, or posting flyers at local businesses.  Whatever it takes we’ve got to do it.  He told us to!  Let’s go fishing!