Fishers of Men
The case against fishing for people
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And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Matthew 4:19 (ESV)
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I think a lot of people misfocus this verse.
What I mean is, they look into the metaphor of what it could mean to be a fisher of men. Breaking down all the parallels between fishing for fish and fishing for people.
Using the right tools. Baiting with the right lures. Setting the hook and reeling them in.
Or … using nets like these professionals did.
Regardless, I want to look at it differently today.
Let’s look into the two workers that Jesus implies in this verse: the disciples and Jesus.
When it comes to fishing for people, Jesus is the one who transforms us into “fishermen.” He’s the one who brings the fish alongside our “boat.” In fact, we do very little of the actual fishing work in this spiritual metaphor.
But we do have a job to do:
Follow Jesus.
Instead of focusing on gathering all the right tools … learning just the right kinds of phrases or Gospel tracts to use for any given situation, maybe we can focus on the real work of simply following Jesus.
I tend to think that a lot of the miraculous work Jesus did while on earth was simply because He was in lock-step with the work that the Holy Spirit was already doing.
He perfectly followed the guidance of the Spirit.
And Jesus even gives us this same Spirit to guide us today.
Our real job?
Follow Him.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2025 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
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