At first glance, it’s an easy blank to fill in. Jesus told the fishermen sons of Jonah, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.”
But let’s put out a little bit further with Him into some different waters and we find that He’s issuing another invitation to go fishing with Him.
After Jesus’ departure from planet Earth, the apostles took up the call to spread Jesus’ good news to the ends of the earth, Paul wrote to the believers living in Corinth an invitation to fish for promises. Better yet, to catch the fulfillment of promises, all the promises God has ever made.
Promise-fishing with God is very different from any other fishing we’ve ever done. Normally, we cast a rigged line in the water; fish swim up to the baited hook; some consider it while some don’t. Some nibble at the bait and swim away free. Occasionally – very rarely in my experience – a fish takes the bait and gets caught; we’ve caught a fish.
That’s how many of us view the promises God has made. A few may be for me, and a few more could possibly be but it’s unlikely. Some are for someone else in some other time at some other place, but not for me here and now. So schools and schools keep swimming in the ocean of unfulfilled promises; I never catch them.
Then along comes a nice, big boy and I hook him. What a pleasant surprise (and it’s always a surprise) when I actually catch a fish.
Through Paul, God promises that for those who are in Christ Jesus, every fish in the proverbial promise-ocean we shall catch – every fish in the ocean – every promise made by God. It isn’t a case of possibly catching some, definitely not catching some, and maybe catching a few. We catch every single fish in the entire ocean.
For all the promises of God are Yes, and in [Christ] Amen to the glory of God through us. 2 Cor 1:20
The only equipment needed to catch all these promises of God is faith. Jesus illustrated this principle when speaking to two blind men seeking to have their sight restored.
According to your faith let it be to you. Matt 9:29
But I don’t have that kind of equipment, you say. Not to worry. God even supplies the equipment.
God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Rom 12:3
There will doubtless be those who’ll try to discourage you from believing such a bold truth. For example, there’s a contemporary assertion that we cannot apply Philippians 4:13 to anything other than Paul’s application of it in his personal situation which we see in the context of that fourth chapter of the letter to the Philippian church.
I take issue with that argument. I saw a mug someone made that sarcastically read “I can do all things through a verse taken out of context.” My view is that God’s principles can stand in diverse contexts. They are intended to be taken out of one context and applied within another. What we must guard against is distorting the meaning of the Scriptural principle when we apply it to a different set of circumstances. And that’s probably what the creator of the aforementioned mug meant. My point, though, is that my faith allows me to apply God’s promises made to various people throughout the ages to my own life, yet another benefit that being in Christ affords for us.
So let’s go fishing. God supplies the equipment and guarantees all the fish in the ocean are ours to catch.
And perhaps the biggest one in the entire ocean is the promise Jesus made to Simon Peter and his brother Andrew. We can catch it for ourselves if we’ll just use the equipment God gave us.
Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men Matthew 4:19