Fishers of Men

Fishing in the deep lake takes courage and trust in God
To battle the elements;
It takes wits as the fish try to evade capture.
It’s not an easy thing
To make your living by fishing in Galilee.
You can be out all night without a single catch
Or come home with the nets straining
And more fish than the market can take.
All or nothing, that’s the fisherman’s life.         

On a sunny afternoon

The young men sat on the shore
Mending their nets,
Not thinking of anything very much.
A shadow fell across the stony beach:
‘Follow me; and I will make you
Fishers of men’.
Was it a command or a promise?
Such was his authority that they rose,
Left their nets and their boat,
And followed him.
They followed him around the lake,
Listening to his preaching,
Marshalling the crowds,
Carrying the tired children;
They marvelled at the healings,
The exorcisms,
The loving care he showed to all.
They followed him on the dusty roads
To Jericho and Jerusalem.
But they couldn’t follow him to the cross –
Not yet, anyway –
That was something he had to do by himself.
They had learned more than they knew
During the three years when he had led them
And the Holy Spirit inspired a new boldness in them.
Now they followed his ways,
Preaching and teaching,
Healing and freeing,
Setting out the kingdom before the people
To draw them to Christ.

It took courage and trust in God to battle the Pharisees

And wit to frustrate those who would obstruct them.
It was not an easy life,
Being fishers of men.
But the early training on the lake
Had accustomed them to hard work and disappointment
As well as to the joy of a good catch.
The new call had come
Both as a command and as a promise
And they followed him to glory.