“Come, follow Me," Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19

Have you ever wondered why some Christians wear a pin with a fish on it? The early Christians had an expression in Greek: “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.” In the days of persecution they abbreviated these words, using only the first letter of each word. These letters spell “icthys,” a Greek word for “fish.”

God has made us His fishermen, and “the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish” (Matthew 13:47). How privileged we are to be selected as His fishermen! We have a joyful task even greater than that of the angels as we witness for Christ among people here on earth.

Few of us consider fishing a tiresome chore. We eagerly await and enjoy every opportunity to use our rod and reel. As fishermen for Christ, we should seek out every opportunity to tell others that Jesus Christ is our only Savior from sin.

Let us react as the disciples did when Jesus told them He would make them fishers of men: “At once they left their nets and followed Him” (Matthew 4:20). We too follow Jesus when we share with others the message of God’s love and forgiveness in Christ.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank You for making me a fisher of men; in Your name I pray. Amen.

(Devotions from “The Abundant Life” copyright 1998, CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time e-mailing of this link to a friend. For information on other devotional material, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit CPH at www.cph.org.)

Today's Bible Readings: Proverbs 2-4    John 19:23-42

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