Such a short verse, that we've heard so many times, and that we often hear an incomplete version of.
We read this verse or hear this verse and what do we hear? Do we hear the evangelical trademark of being 'fishers of men?' Do we equate this with the nicely-tied-up-in-a-pretty-package "great commission" of Matthew 28? Do we see this and think, "Well he's not talking to me, I'm no fisherman, he's talking to someone else who's good at that sort of thing."
Or do we see the part of Jesus asking us to follow him.
Do we hear Jesus asking us to follow him and telling us that if we do, he will make us into something else.
That he will bring a change about in us by following him. That he'll shape us, change us, adapt us and redeem us into something else. Into something very specific. Into a "fisher of men."
Do we convince ourselves that God is limited in this change? That he is unable to do this? That this is something beyond his capabilities?
Have we somehow convinced ourselves (or allowed others to convince us) that the trans-formative power of Jesus can be halted by:
- our fear
- our shyness
- our own insecurities
- our personality
- our sex
- our race
- our intelligence
- our education
- our jobs
- our political affiliation
- our wealth
- our poverty
- our location in the world
- or anything else that we could possibly use to describe what makes us "us"
If we are not becoming 'fishers of men,' then who is it we are following?
Who do we follow that turns us into not into fishers of men, but instead keepers of the aquarium?
What would it look like if we allowed Jesus to make us into who he says he will?
If we follow him.
