“One day as Jesus was walking along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew fishing with nets, for they were commercial fisherman. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me! And I will make you fisherman for the souls of men!” At once they left their nets and went along with him.” (Mark 1:16-18, NIV)

Observations:

What stuck out to me was Jesus saying, “Come, follow me! And I will make you fisherman for the souls of men!”

Observation/Interpretation:

This statement of Jesus was significant to me because of the words Jesus uses to persuade them to follow Him which are “And I will make you fisherman for the souls of men!”

I thought to myself, why is it significant that Jesus uses those words?

I was reminded of Peter and Andrew’s profession! Simon and Andrew were fishing with nets and being commercial fisherman was their profession!

Jesus uses language that they are able to understand as he meets them where they are. He does this by asking them to follow Him letting them know that what they have learned throughout the years will not go to waste but can be used when they follow Him too! This time it won’t be just catching fish but being fisherman for the souls of men using what they are good at.

Interpretation/Application:

 I thought to myself how could fisherman become ‘fisherman for the souls of men’?

 It made me think about the function of commercial fisherman:

These are only some of the functions I can think of but there could be more to a fisherman than meets the eye. Those 7 could have been their responsibilities and here comes Jesus asking them to follow Him and He will not let their profession go to waste but use those same principles to make them “fisherman for the souls of men.”

I found that very exciting as I began thinking of the 7 functions of fisherman that came to my mind and how those functions could be utilized as an analogy.

 Point 1:

They have to go out into the sea if they want to start fishing or at least have access to water where there are fish.

In the same way, to be ‘fisherman for the souls of men’, Jesus wants them to go to places where there are lost people or have access to lost people so they can fish for their souls.

 Point 2:

They need to have a good net that fish will become attached to and cannot escape.

 In the same way, to be ‘fisherman for the souls of men’, Jesus wants to become their good net that they can use so that lost people will become attached to Him and they cannot escape once they come to Jesus.

 At first this thought sounded as if people coming to Jesus become prisoners if they cannot escape. But, I believe once ‘fisherman for the souls of men’ allow Jesus to work in their lives, lost people start seeing the work of Jesus in people’s lives that they are so attracted to Jesus’ work in the people’s lives that they want to be part of it. So, now lost people get attracted to Jesus and come. Once they come, they cannot escape because they come to the point of ‘surrendering their lives to Him.’

 In a way, some people do think about becoming a prisoner once they give their life to Jesus. But, I believe it is those who have not surrendered their wills to Him who feel that way. Those who do surrender find abundant life with Jesus.

 Lost people get attracted to Jesus many times because of the lifestyle of those who already know Jesus and are known by Him.

 Point 3:

It is not enough to have the best net if the net is not thrown in the water at the right place and time.

In the same way, it is not enough for us to know Jesus and be known by Jesus to reach out to lost people, if we are just content with having Jesus as our best net and do not access the help Jesus provides to reach out to lost people at the right place and time.  Just as the disciples went out in faith while they threw their net for fish and believed in the profession they were in, ‘fisherman for the souls of men’ need to go out in faith, believing in Jesus and presenting Jesus to lost people.

It won’t always be easy to find the right place and time but fisherman keep going at it and so should ‘fisherman for the souls of men’. Eventually, just as fish are caught ‘lost people’ do come when we do not give up and keep presenting Jesus.

Point 4:

Usually, they need to work together as one drops the net and others help pull it up.

In the same way, just as one person may present Jesus to someone or multitudes, that person has just dropped the net in a ‘lost person’s life’. This is just the beginning where the seed has been sown. As others help pull the net, I am reminded of Billy Graham Crusades where ‘lost people’ are attracted to the net of Jesus and come to Him. While they come to Him, they are helped by tons of counselors to pull them up from where they were to ‘where they can be now’. Now, they are attracted to Jesus and come but are helped by people who know Jesus and are known by Him.

I learned reaching out to ‘lost people’ is not a solo job just as being effective fisherman is not. Jesus did not call Simon and Andrew individually but both of them together in utilizing what they are familiar with.

Point 5:

They (fisherman) utilize ways to attract fish to come to them.

In the same way, to reach ‘souls of men’ different ways can be utilized as ‘fisherman for the souls of men’. Some can use evangelistic crusades to attract people to Jesus, friendship/relational evangelism, testimonial evangelism, narrative/story telling evangelism, evangelistic movies, and most of all personal evangelism: Living out our life in such a way that we become the bait to attract people to Jesus. Personal evangelism could use other ways to reach out too. These are just some examples and are not exclusive.

Point 6:

Once fish are caught, they make them die to be used.

In the same way, once lost people are caught, ‘fisherman for the souls of men’ make them realize that they need to ‘die to self’ and surrender themselves completely to the Lord to be used of the Lord. It is here ‘lost people’ actually have the opportunity to give their life to Christ by praying what many call the ‘Sinner’s Prayer’.

The difference between fish that are caught in a net and lost people who get caught in the net of Jesus is that ‘fish cannot escape’ but ‘lost people can escape’.

What do I mean?

If they do not want to die to themselves and be born again for Christ, they have freedom to go their own way even after they are attracted. But if they do that they still remain lost to Christ but alive to the world which is not a good thing in the long run. It is also possible those lost people are attracted again sometime in the future and decide to ‘die to themselves’ as other ‘fisherman for the souls of men’ come along.

Point 7:

They (fisherman) clean the fish and make them available to others.

In the same way, ‘fisherman for the souls of men’ clean the ‘lost people’ after they ‘die to themselves’ but this cleaning is not done without the help of the Lord. Lost people who are saved now and born again are helped to clean their lifestyle with the help of Jesus. Jesus personally works in their life through the power of the Holy Spirit, through His Word, through prayer, and the community of believers.

As this continues to happen, now ‘lost people who have been found’ are available to others to reciprocate what happened to them. Just as fish is eaten and people get nourishment after it is available to them, in the same way, now people who are saved can allow Jesus to work in their lives and bring spiritual nourishment to others.

IMPLICATIONS:

I ask you now dear friends, what kind of profession are you in?

Dear friends,  I learned that Jesus wanted to use Simon and Andrew from what they had already pursued and were pursuing to make an impact for the Kingdom of God. This is awesome because no matter what you are studying, I believe that area of academics/trade can be used by the Lord to make an impact in the Kingdom of God. So never give up on what you want to pursue because as you pursue your academic dream and die to yourself and become alive in Christ being willing to follow Him, He can use you where you are at. Simon and Andrew decided to follow Jesus and the Lord has used them in mighty ways. Even if you are in a career and not studying, the Lord can still use you mightily.

If you have time, you can look at the function of your profession and see how you can make an analogy to use that profession/major to reach lost people for the Kingdom of God. There could be times the Lord could ask you to change your profession/major completely and take you to another profession but that can be used to bring lost people to Christ too if you have a willing spirit of surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ.

 In closing, I want to share with you couple of true stories that happened in my life few years ago. To put things into perspective, I have finished my degrees in Psychology, Administration of Justice, & have a major in Legal Studies w/ minors in Mathematics and Computer Science, and business.  I now work full-time in a job I love and pursuing courses in management which my company is willing to pay for.

How was I able to use my profession?

There was a young guy who was drunk at the bus stop at Forbes Ave opposite to the William Pitt Union wanting to go to Shadyside. He asked me what bus he needed to take to go there and I kept telling him that he was on the wrong side of the street if he wanted to go to Shadyside. He was so sure he was on the right side and just needed me to tell him the numbers. After awhile, I did not try to persuade him anymore. Rather, I decided to read my Bible.

 He comes up to me and said that he liked to read the Bible too and told me that he loved ‘Revelation’. He asked me what my favorite passage was and I used that opportunity to tell him one of my favorite passages was in Proverbs 23.

 Then, I asked him if he would like to read a certain passage from there which was my favorite. He decided to read it with whatever comprehension he had while drunk and saying what it meant to him. Then he asked me what I thought about it.

A great idea is to ask people if they want to read the verses you want to share with them. This way they get to read Scripture for themselves.

 I told him psychology talks a lot about the dangers of alcohol but the Bible already mentions them here. Finally, he looks at me and said, “You know all these things I have experienced”. He was so awestruck with his experiences and what he was going through was already mentioned in the Bible even before Psych books came along.

 Later, he gave me his number to keep in touch and gave me a big hug. Finally, he tells me that he was on the wrong side and decides to go to Fifth Ave to catch the bus. This type utilized a type of evangelism more than psychology but psychology did come into play. One of the Quiet Times I had, had to do with alcohol and is called A.L.C.O.H.O.L. You can access it by typing 'Previous Devotionals' in the search box.

 My mission has been to ‘Counsel broken hearts with the love of Christ.” While I have had multiple opportunities to counsel students and non-students and see their lives change for the glory of God, I have utilized the principles I have learned in psychology but not the methodology of psychology. Rather I have focused on biblical counseling.

For example, a student would tell me how things were always going wrong for her and that she could never do anything right. She feels like she is a failure and so on. I would let her know  the more negative things we say to ourselves, naturally those get acted upon and we are in a rut where we started at because of our words affecting our self-esteem. Then I would take her to Scripture and tell her that the Bible talks about the words of our mouth having power to destroy or build. I would tell her that the Lord spoke and it came to be. My basic point to her was that she needed to watch what negative things she would say about herself to others and herself. She was amazed.

In closing, there is a profession that is so important that every woman who raises a child becomes part of. I am talking about the profession of motherhood. I want you to keep your mommy in mind and the life she gave you. A mom can use her profession of nurturing and raising a child to bring them to Jesus too! This is what happened to me!

Years ago, my mommy would read us Bible stories every night before we went to bed. There was a day I was watching a television program and the host talked about 'Accepting Jesus into your heart". I had no idea what that meant and asked my mommy what it meant.

My mommy took me aside to my bedroom and explained to me what it meant. My mommy then asked me if I wanted Jesus Christ in my heart. I told my mommy excitedly that I wanted Jesus in my heart. My mommy then wrote a prayer down on a 4*6" cardboard and prayed with me. I repeated the prayer and gave my life to Jesus Christ. Lord used my mommy to help me come to Jesus. I had severe asthma and said to myself if Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, what Jesus did then, He can even do now which means He can heal my asthma. After I gave my life to Christ and became His follower, my asthma was healed too!

I don't know what your relationship with your mother is like but no matter how it is, your mother made it her profession to give you life and not abort you. However, your life is going, Jesus Christ can change that! I believe it!

I had an opportunity to use my field of psychology to open a counseling session online. It was on Internet Relay Chat (IRC) years ago. A person came into that chat room and I talked with her asking how her life was and so on. She told me that she was not doing well. I shared with her a poem called "Never Forsaken" that the Lord helped me write. After talking, I asked her if she wanted to give her life to Jesus Christ and allow Him to work in her life and take care of her. She did, so I prayed with her by typing each prayer sentence and she typed it after me. It happened online and I did not even see that person's face. It did not matter because the Lord used that moment to bring her to Salvation.

I used to wonder how she was doing and one day I received a snail mail about how her life changed. She told me that she was 25 yrs old and lived in California and because of her becoming a Christian, her husband came to know the Lord too and that she was pregnant with a child. This is awesome that she is a mother who knows Jesus Christ and can raise her child with Christian principles. She also sent me money to help me when I was doing full-time ministry with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

I thank the Lord for the opportunity to use my profession to counsel and minister to her and to see her soul saved!

May the Lord use your profession for His honor and glory and may you know that He can inspire you and nurture you daily helping you in whatever area you are in as you are about to graduate this Spring  of 2006! Amen!

 “Please Remember Our Faithful Encouraging Savior Sends Inspiring Omnipotent Nurture” (P.R.O.F.E.S.S.I.O.N)/”What do you do with your profession?”

I have been able to use my profession and academic area for the glory of God as a witnessing opportunity. You can access a lot of things that I have written at http://www.pitt.edu/~rcrst6 too.

Friend, opportunities will come as you decide to follow the Lord in the profession you are in. May you allow Him to work in your life! Make this your prayer to the Lord.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus thank you for the professions you have given us. I thank you for all those that are graduating and for bringing them through these years. Lord, I want to thank you that no matter what my major is, you can use me for your honor and glory to be a ‘mechanic for the souls of men’ , ‘scientist for the souls of men’, etc regardless of what I have majored in or am majoring in as I follow you. Thank you Lord, academics can be used for your honor and glory for all Truth that is out there is your Truth. Lord, when we do encounter things that are contrary to your Word please do help us. I thank you for using us to save people into your Kingdom. Thank you for being delighted to use us. Help us to be available for you always. And most of all help us to be teachable. Thank you for loving us so much and dying for our sins. Thank you for coming back to life to save us. We give our lives to you and ask you for your help. I acknowledge you as my Lord and Personal Savior. Please be my Lord and Personal Savior. Come into my heart and make my heart your home. Live in me Jesus so I can live for you and serve you the rest of the days of my life. Thank you Jesus for coming in and being part of my life. Clean me Jesus as I surrender my life to you. It is not easy for me and I need your help. Whatever your will, please give me the willingness and strength to rejoice in it. Thank you Jesus you have heard my prayers and answered me. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen

If you would like to invite Jesus Christ into your heart and make Him a daily part of your life, you can this very moment. You will never be alone. You can claim God's promises for you in the Bible and see them come true, before your eyes, in His wonderful timing. You don't have to wait for a special time to come to the Lord. You can come right now as you pray this prayer, meaning it in your heart. It is a similar prayer I prayed with my mommy to give my life to Christ!

Friend, you may feel something or you may not but this you can be assured that the Lord Jesus has come into your life and will give you a new beginning! Amen!

"This is my work and I can do it only because Christ's mighty energy is at work within me." (Colossians 1:29, TLB)

Love in Christ,
Ramesh

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