Just reading today from Luke 5, as Jesus calls Simon Peter to cast his fishing nets again into the water for a fresh catch.
"And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking....they filled both boats, so that they began to sink...For Peter & all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken...Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."
(Parts of Luke 5:6-10)
While there are other important facets of this story, I was struck today by the bits written above. I had never noticed the connection between the physical catch of the fish & the future catching of men. These fishermen had fished all night and caught little to nothing. Then, at Jesus' command, they caught so many fish that their boats began to sink. The catch was always in the Lord's hand...His Sovereignty always at work. Later, the same would be true for them (& now all of us) as it relates to fishing for men.
Usually, breaking nets & sinking boats would be bad news, right? But not here! The breaking and sinking are because of an abundance of God's provision. As we fish for men, we want to see an abundance of families turning from darkness to light, into a relationship with their Creator & Savior who came to astonish them with His astonishing grace and love.
So as I fish for (wo)men here in Tokyo, I'm praying that 2015 would be a year of astonishment at the "catch" of people, that our ministry nets would break, and that our church's "boats" would sink because of the multitude of men and women who come to know the Saving love of Jesus.
LMR
Reflections on mission to Japan's next generation
