Luke 5:1-11 says, “1And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 4Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 11And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.”

The call on the disciples of Christ, which is the call for every modern-day believer, is to become a fisher of men. Before you ever become a fisher of men, you must first become a fish. At some point, you would have to be the one to respond to the call of salvation, and it is not the bait of entertainment that will win you to and sustain you in Christ. It is the net of God’s Word! 

Once God catches you, He does not throw you back, but He keeps you, cleans you and changes you! You are transformed into a fisher of men yourself, and when you fish, you cannot lead people into a perpetual relationship with God through the lights, camera and action. It is being the example of Christ and mentoring people, helping them to find their role in the kingdom of God. It is launching out into the deep and letting down your net for a multitude of fish. The reason is because faith requires risks. You may have tried to encourage, influence and witness to people time and time again with no avail, but we must go in the direction to the place where God wants us to be. Peter and these other fishermen, even after fishing all night and catching nothing, were washing their nets. They may have caught some trash or seaweed, yet they technically still had not caught anything. Once you are saved, the Word of God may expose some junk in your life, but there comes a time where you can no longer depend on God to cleanse you from all unrighteousness, but you must cleanse yourself (2 Corinthians 7:1). You must lay these things down so you can be more sensitive to the voice of God when He says, “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets”. It is about fishing God’s way!

Of course, when Peter received this instruction from Jesus, he was extremely hesitant. Jesus was raised as a carpenter’s son, and his profession was a fisherman. He already knew how to fish, but he was convicted enough to obey Jesus because He was more than just another man. He was the only begotten Son of God! It is not about us striving to succeed in our own callings and ministries because we must continually be led by the presence of the Holy Spirit if we want to be effective in winning souls. We need to do outreaches and show our communites and regions the love of God, but if it is not mingled with the power of God, and if we are doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, then it is still the wrong thing. If we are fishing in our community just to make a name for ourselves, or to catch some trophy fish so people can lift us up, we are fishing for the wrong reasons. We do not fish to receive recognition or compliments, but out of the kindess and enjoyment of our hearts. A wrong intention will compete with other ministries in hopes of building a bigger church than the one five miles down the road, and while some events may be successful, it will not be blessed by God’s hand or Word! It is about catching so many fish that they we do not know what to do with them. As a matter of fact, you call other ministries and tell them, “Help me. We are seeing such an influx of revival that we need some help discipling these new souls. Hundreds are getting saved, and we are running out of room. Would you like some more members?” This kind of fishing is difficult and challenging, but it will require sacrifice, forsaking all and following Him. This the heart of God, and this is the demonstration of true revival!