Fishing Lures

 “As Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men’” (Mk. 1:16-17).


Like He did Simon and Andrew, Jesus calls each of His disciples today to be fishers of men- to ‘catch souls’ for Christ! Of course, as any proper fisherman should, we must examine what kind of bait we should put on the hook. 


Many churches today work very hard to make their services attractive to the world. Their fishing lures are slick and shiny: free coffee and donuts, daycare services for members’ children, beautiful concert-style worship or an exciting party-style service. What people don’t realize is that when it comes to fishing for men, you keep them with what you caught them with! If we were to win someone over with free food and social programs, we would have successfully converted them to our social organization… but their soul would not belong to Christ. 


We need not work too hard to ‘make the gospel attractive’. The gospel is the most beautiful and miraculous message that there could ever be all on its own! We need only to present it as the good news that it is- salvation for God’s people and the privilege of a relationship with our Creator and Savior. 


Paul powerfully stated: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation..” (Rom. 1:16). Truly, as a father does for his young son, our Father has already baited our hook for us. We need only to cast it out and let the gospel do its work!


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