“Then He said to them, “’Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’” Matthew 4:19

My son booked a fishing trip, inviting his brother and me. His brother couldn’t make it, so he invited his nephew, my grandson. And we went fishing! By most accounts, it was a successful trip. We went to catch fish. My grandson reminded me that I caught 1… “and he was little!” But we didn’t really catch any ’keepers.’ Now the question… were we successful?

We had a fabulous time! The time spent together was priceless and made a memory that will never go away. I WILL hear, “remember the time we went fishing and you only got…?” Yea! Priceless! But a memory was made by fellowship. Spending time together. Watching and copying techniques and trying to duplicate success by mimicking the successful ones.

Jesus invited 12 guys to follow Him. To watch Him. To yield to and copy Him. All for the purpose of going out into the sea of God’s created ones to ‘FISH’… for PEOPLE! It was His idea, both in creation and within the Church, to try to get people to fall for Him… hook, line and sinker! He invited us to join Him… and even paid the price for the trip! It is His calling!

When I was a kid I LOVED to fish. I’d go out to a place and sit for hours in hopes of catching ANYTHING. These days, I’m a little more picky. My enthusiasm wanes when the catch, or the quality of the fish, is low. Lots of people who don’t like to fish… I get it. But fishing is bigger than just ‘reeling in a big one!’ It is a time to spend with Jesus Himself. And His folks.

So I’m going to move this last trip up to a 10 for quality time with my family. I look forward to Sunday when I will spend quality time in worshiping Jesus with His people. To learn more about Jesus and His fellow called ones. To learn how to show love and to duplicate what ‘The Master’ is trying to teach us all. Do you?