You Have a Message

Ah, the telephone... I don't know how we would get along without it. It is so important to us in our day-to-day life. We use it to stay in touch with friends and loved ones; we use it to make appointments; we use it to order pizza. Today's phones are amazing! Most cell phones will do much more than just make a phone call. Some will let you send text messages and email. Some will even let you take a picture and send it to a friend. One important feature of today's phones is that a friend can call and leave a message. When that happens, your phone lets us know by saying, "You have a message." One thing that really bugs me is to call a friend and leave a message and they never return my call! What kind of friend would do that?

You and I have a friend who has left us a message. He has invited us to go fishing with him. Oh boy! I love to go fishing, don't you? I wonder if you can guess who that friend is? That's right! Our friend, Jesus, left us a message that he wants us to go fishing with him. This fishing trip will be quite different. Instead of catching fish, Jesus has invited us to go fishing for people! Jesus didn't leave his message on the phone, he left his message in the Bible.

One day as Jesus walked along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon Peter and Andrew—throwing a net into the water because they fished for a living. Jesus called to them, "Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!" The Bible tells us that they immediately dropped what they were doing and followed Jesus.

As Jesus, Peter, and Andrew walked along the shore, they saw two other brothers—James and John—sitting in their boat mending nets. They called and invited them to come along too. They dropped their nets, left their boat behind, and followed Jesus.

If you have ever been fishing, you know what a thrill it is to land a big one. Can you imagine what a thrill it is to go fishing for people and to help someone else come to know Jesus and become one of his followers? Even though this story in the Bible is about Jesus calling the first disciples, it is for us too. It is a message from Jesus that he wants us to go and make disciples. Will we return his call? What will our answer be?

Dear Jesus, just like Peter, Andrew, James, and John, we want to join you and go fishing for people. Amen.