"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." ~Matthew 4:19When Jesus gave this call to His disciples there are three things He lift off; for good reason I might add.
He never said:
1) It would be easy.
2) It would come quickly.3) They would never make mistakes.
Why didn't Jesus say these things? I mean, it certainly would have comforted the disciples and made them want to follow Him more, right? Well, we forget, Jesus is Truth.
He didn't say things to His disciples because they weren't the Truth.
If fishing for men (that's Christian for "sharing our faith") was meant to be easy, Jesus would have never left this promise at the end of the Great Commission "...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” ~Matthew 28:20b Would Jesus have said this if He knew we wouldn't struggle and ultimately need Him to complete taste He had set before us; which was to "go and make disciples of all nations"?
I struggle with what I call "a fear of sharks."
If you ever wondered why I would have fear of "sharing my faith" then you've never tried to share your faith before. Sometimes when you "fish", some latch on, sometimes, some just kind of swim along, and sometimes you catch a shark, and they try there best to tear your flesh with words. I'll be honest, I have a fear of sharks.
This reminds me of what just happened to me today. I was waiting after school to get help with math for a test tomorrow, when math help for this afternoon was canceled. So, instead of rushing to find my bus, I (though I would later find out, the Holy Spirit) led me to get help from someone else within the school and
work on a review page in the lobby. While I set the lobby I worked all the problems I could, but was soon approached by two girls.
One of the girls actually seemed to have quite a mouth on her. Dropping a few words that could have even made a sailor blush. Not only that; but from what I could overhear due to there close proximity, they had some question life styles and were trying to find rides out to there houses.
One of them asked if I had a dollar, and then asked if I had smoked weed. This is a reality within a large majority of high school students in America. I told her that, "No, smoking weed is stupid." And as I reached for my wallet, thinking I had a dollar, she seemed shocked to hear that I didn't smoke weed as apparently "most kids did." As I handed what may have been 20 cents and saying, "it's all I can do, sorry," she also said she agreed with me that drugs were stupid and we should "be healthy." Though, some of the conversation I had overheard seemed quite contradictory.
I was worried that these girls may have been sharks.
I set down at one point after the conversation ended and opened God's Word, thinking it would be a break from the noise of a high school lobby. The Holy Spirit began to convict me, "What good is my Word if you're not to share it?" I felt Him speak into my soul. God had given me a divine appointment, was I going to miss my chance?
God gave me an opening to the conversation and I decided to take it.
Somewhere during the conversation I told her that drugs wouldn't even in rough situations, that you have prayer and friends to support you through those.
Which spoke majorly into my life as well with the season I'm in with life right now. But, that's a different post for a different day.
I received this response: "Yeah, I have the Lord within my soul."
Something within my soul felt that something wasn't quite right. I wasn't here to judge, but the life she proclaimed didn't line up with the one I saw.
I mean, Jesus said, "For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." ~Luke 6:45
I couldn't get much farther into the conversation. Her and her friend didn't seem to interested in what I had to say. Right after I asked her what church she attended;which she couldn't recall...she just said "the Baptist one" (and if you know anything about Owensboro, Kentucky, we are filled with churches, especially Baptist churches) she began conversation with her friend and kind of forgot me.
No worries. I went back to waiting for my ride to arrive, and planning my next move.
"The Gospel tracts in my back pocket!"
The conversation may have died, but there was still hope in the million dollars in my back pocket!
(For the "million dollar question" view the bottom of this post)
To make a long story short, he friend left and as my ride pulled up I approached her again, told her it was nice to meet her, asked for her name (It was Kathy, by the way), I gave her a million dollar and said, "This may not help out your money troubles, but you might enjoy this. Have a million dollar day. Check out the back. Hope you get your ride troubles work themselves out."
I headed out the door and said a prayer for Kathy.
Was it easy? No. Has it came quickly? No. Did I make a few mistakes? Yes.
But, Christ is the source of salvation, not me. I should have tried to continue the conversation, but ultimately "salvation belongs to the LORD" - Revelation 7:10.
Even Paul knew that ultimately His words were no the power of salvation, but the Gospel. (1 Corinthians 2:1, Romans 1:16).And just like any outreach or encounter, I'm trusting God to use the Gospel tract to bring Kathy to a knowledge of her sin and that it's wage is death, but the God gave us a gift, Jesus Christ, who came to die in our place that, if we repent and trust in alone in Christ, we may have eternal life.
I went fishing, and didn't catch a shark, but sowed a seed of God's Word. I pray over Kathy today, that God would work powerfully in her life through the tract and in this season of promise to bring her to repentance and faith in Christ.
The million dollar question:
Will you go to Heaven when you die? Here's a quick test. Have you ever told a lie, stolen anything, or used God's name in vain? Jesus said, "Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Have you looked with lust?
Will you be guilty on Judgment Day? If you have done those things, God sees you as a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart. The Bible warns that if you are guilty you will end up in Hell. That's not God's will. He sent His Son to suffer and die on the cross for you.
You broke God's Law, but Jesus paid your fine. That means He can legally dismiss your case. He can commute your death sentence: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Then He rose from the dead and defeated death.
Please, repent (turn from sin) today and trust in Jesus alone, and God will grant you the gift of everlasting life. Then read your Bible daily and obey it.
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