FISHERS OF MEN

Matthew 4:19: And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Like others among the disciples, Andrew and Peter were fishermen. While casting their nets into the sea one day they heard the Lord's call to forsake their nets and become fishers of men. They responded immediately: "And they straightway left their nets, and followed him" (Matthew 4:20).

In turning their attention and purpose from fish to people, Jesus called the two fishermen to a way of life consistent with His own. To Him, people had priority. The disciples once left Him, tired and hungry, near a well in Samaria while they went to buy food. In their absence, He saw the deep need of a woman who came there to draw water had told her how she could end her search for happiness and find everlasting life (John 4). She was so captured by His knowledge and message that she invited others to hear Him and by the time the disciples returned with food He was too busy ministering to take time to eat. "I have meat to eat that ye know not of," He explained. People were more important to the Saviour than food, even though He was very hungry.

Religious leaders of that time often criticized Jesus because He healed and helped people on the Sabbath. He responded: <"...What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out? How much more then is a man better than a sheep" (Matthew 12:11,12). He was saying, "People are more important than animals or possessions."

What good thing has the place that people ought to occupy on your priority list? Hear the call of Jesus to you: "...Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."