May 28, 2006am    Fish On!    Matthew 4:19

By Ronald E. George Jr. at the Fayetteville Baptist Church

 

I will never forget the time that we went shark fishing at the beach.  My Dad, my Brother in law, and I paid a total of100 dollars to catch a shark.  We went out and they pulled in a shark and then we went back to the dock.  I never got to touch a pole, but I did get to take the pictures. 

            Stock truck is the word for the day in the Mountain State . 

 

Scripture Text:  Mat. 4:18 (NIV) As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee , he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.

 

   Follow me with Attitude!  Do you feel like going fishing?  Do you feel like you have a fish on the line?  What are you looking for?  What would you like to see? 

 

   “This may shock you, but I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. Attitude is that `single string' that keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right, there's no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.” -- Charles R. Swindoll

 

“Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitude toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it.” -- Charles R. Swindoll

 

Attitude of a fisher of men.

 

1.       Relentless.  Keep getting your hook wet.  No matter how dark the water may seem there is always hope in life’s waters. Why?  Because Jesus is our Hope. 

2.       Optimistic:  Believes that if he or she keeps on fishing he or she will eventually catch something.  Let’s go fishing with the Lord.

3.       Realistic:  Willingly accepts the good catches and the bad times as a part of life.

4.       Visionary:  Believes that there is more to life than meets the eye.  (you can’t see the fish but you believe that eventually a big fish will come by)

5.       Confident: Doesn’t get easily discouraged.  Don’t quit.  Keeps getting the hook wet. 

6.       Enjoys life and fishing because it isn’t called catching.  It’s all about the fishing. 

7.       Reliable:  Isn’t afraid of hard work.  Hard working and willing to get hands dirty.  Ready to answer the call. 

8.       Has a Mind over Matter attitude:  If I don’t mind, then it doesn’t matter.  Don’t let the little things of life get them down.  Remember the first two rules.  Don’t sweat the small stuff and everything is small stuff.  Fish Stink!  Sometimes they aren’t cooperative.  Sometimes they croak when you get a hold of them.  Sometimes they may even bite you.  Come what may you still need a mind over matter attitude when it comes to fishing.  Go fishing anyway. 

9.       Remembers God knows where all the big fish are.  Why not ask Him?

10.  Fishermen go fishing!  Have we gone fishing for men? Will we?

 

John 21:1 (NIV) Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias . It happened this way:

2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee , the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.

3 "I'm going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

5 He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?"

"No," they answered.

6 He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, "It is the Lord," he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.

8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. {[8] Greek about two hundred cubits (about 90 meters)}

9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

10 Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught."

11 Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.

12 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord.

13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.

14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

   

  There are really only three types of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say, What happened?  -- Ann Landers

 

Life is a grindstone. But whether it grinds us down or polishes us up depends on us.

   L. Thomas Holdcroft

 

Don't bother to give God instructions; just report for duty.

   Corrie ten Boom