Learning to fish

He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” — Matthew 4:19                            

Thomas Boston, a young minister and fly fisherman from Scotland, wrote this in his diary in 1699: “Reading in secret, my heart was touched with Matthew 4:19, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ My soul cried out for the accomplishing of that to me, and I was very desirous to know how I might follow Christ, so as to be a fisher of men.”

Boston later wrote a booklet titled, A Soliloquy on the Art of Man Fishing, in which he spelled out what he learned about soul-winning by following the Master Angler. He pointed out that the habits of fish and the habits of sinners are often quite similar.

I am an avid fisherman, and I have worked our Idaho trout streams many times. I agree with Boston that catching fish and winning souls are very much alike. But analogy can only take us so far. The best way to become an effective “fisher of men” is simply to follow Jesus.

For us that means watching how the Master “fished” and then imitating Him. It involves reading the Scriptures and lingering over His words and deeds, learning how He “caught souls.” Then we must cry out, as Thomas Boston did, and ask Jesus to make us like Him — great “fishers of men.” — David Roper

Keeping in step with the Savior,

Living a life that is true,

Clearly let’s sound out a witness,

Proving what God’s grace can do.  — Bosch

READ: Matthew 4:18-22

If you’re not fishing for souls,

you are not following the Savior.