I am always amazed and blessed as I read your posts. The Holy Spirit is leading us into unity of doctrine!
What is the subject of today's reading? Is it not the desire of Jesus to make us fishers of men? It is His work to do so. He came to teach us how it is that we can join in His work of saving the lost. I would like to pick just one paragraph as we usually do, but today I cannot. It is too important that we get the whole message that we might be able to not only be fishers of men, but are able to teach others how to be used by God to save the lost.
God takes men as they are, and educates them for His service, if they will yield themselves to Him.
We see this in today's reading that He had called the eleven, but that does not mean they were immediately fishers of men or that they were even converted. Did they love God with the whole heart when Jesus chose them? We know that they often did not, as we saw at the last supper when all were vying for the highest place, and later that night all forsook Him.
So, we now see that Jesus chose them that He might "educate them for His service." But, it required something on the part of those whom He chooses. They must "yield themselves to Him." They all did except for Judas who He did not call. But, it did not happen in one day or even a few. It took some time for them to be consistent in their yielding. They must first see that they were evil by nature and needed Jesus all the time, not just part of the time.
Isaiah, Daniel, and Peter all experienced this, and so must we, and all who are to become fishers of men.
The presence of divinity revealed his own unholiness. Love for his Master, shame for his own unbelief, gratitude for the condescension of Christ, above all, the sense of his uncleanness in the presence of infinite purity, overwhelmed him. While his companions were securing the contents of the net, Peter fell at the Saviour's feet, exclaiming, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord."
Jesus cannot come until He has a people who reflect His character and cease sinning. In order for this to happen, He needs fishers of men who will teach as He taught.
It was after Peter had been led to self-renunciation and dependence upon divine power that he received the call to his work for Christ. Until this time none of the disciples had fully united as colaborers with Jesus.
Not only self-renunciation, but we must come to see our "dependence upon divine power" in order to do any good thing and be fishers of men who will be dependent upon divine power also. This divine power will not only keep us from sinning and bringing reproach upon Jesus, it will provide for our needs, all of them. Not our wants, but our needs to do the work we are called to do.
Jesus had given them the assurance that God would supply their needs.
Do we believe this? When in a hard spot and we do not know which way to turn to feed our families or pay the gas bill, do we believe God will provide? Or has "unbelief" caused us to fear? How does "unbelief" enter into the mind of those seeking to serve God? We let our minds wander away from Jesus. If we would keep our focus on God, then we would not fail Him.
During that sad night on the lake, when they were separated from Christ, the disciples were pressed hard by unbelief, and weary with fruitless toil. But His presence kindled their faith, and brought them joy and success. So it is with us; apart from Christ, our work is fruitless, and it is easy to distrust and murmur. But when He is near, and we labor under His direction, we rejoice in the evidence of His power.
It takes time to be trained by Jesus to become successful fishers of men. Christ is patient as we see He was with His disciples. After three and a half years, they still did not understand Jesus had to die to pay the price for their sins. Peter attempted to stop Jesus from going to Jerusalem to die after these three and a half years of training. Yet, even though they all forsook Him, He did not forsake them. Neither will He be impatient with us. He is long-suffering with us, as we all can testify. He came to save us, not to destroy us. He is daily encouraging us. And, He wants us to be successful fishers of men, no matter who we are, where we come from, or how we have been educated. It is the heart that He wants, all of it. Then He will make fishers of men even if uneducated.
He whose word could gather the fishes from the sea could also impress human hearts, and draw them by the cords of His love, so that His servants might become "fishers of men."
And not only you and me, but when we are fishing for the souls of men, who is it that convicts them of sin, righteousness, and judgment? Is it not the power of God, the Holy Spirit opening the mind of sinners to truth, to the Truth? It is God that reveals His character of love to those we are fishing for. And, we are to be His witnesses of that power to change sinners into saints. We must live what it is that we are preaching to the fish we seek to save. We must reveal His character to a world soon to perish.
When the disciples came forth from the Saviour's training, they were no longer ignorant and uncultured. They had become like Him in mind and character, and men took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.
My dear brothers and sisters who are reading what we post, be encouraged that Jesus will continue to train you as He did His disciples. If we will continue learning of Him, He shall continue revealing Himself to us. And, by beholding His glory, His character, we shall be transformed into His image (His character). It is an intellectual and a spiritual truth that be beholding we become changed. The mind will adapt itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. This is a Biblical truth. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Cor. 3:18.
Even conversion takes time. It is the end of a long protracted process of wooing by the Holy Spirit that ends in loving God with all we have and all we are. Be encouraged that God will continue until we are a light on a hill revealing the love that God has for all who are yet sinners.