Do fishers, fish?

Evangelism has always been a big thing for me since day one. God really has instilled a burning passion in me for reaching the lost, for literally seeing the world come to know Jesus. People ask me what my biggest prayer is or what I would love to see God do in my generation and its always been the same thing: my prayer is that each and every single person on this earth would come to know Jesus, not just know about Him, but know Him. And people take that well, "Oh, yeah, me too! That would be great!" And I kindly nod and in my head I think to myself, "Am I really alone on this one, God?". You see people can agree with that statement all they want, they can even really desire for it to come to come true, but there is drastic difference between wishful thinking and actually taking action. 


Sometimes I think I'm all alone on this walk with Christ. Sometimes (a lot of times), I think I've totally lost my mind. The reason being? Because when I tell someone I want the world to know Jesus, every single person I've come into contact with, people I've seen in cars, on the street, on the television, people I've walked by, given food, helped out, or totally ignored come streaming through my mind. Faces, families, lives. When I say the word "world", I don't mean a generic "everyone", I mean a personal each and every one. That lady that cut you off in traffic that might have just lost a loved one. The man that bags your groceries trying to make enough to feed his family. The teenager that egged your house, trying to find something to do because his parents have put work before raising their kid. The child that looks alright from the outside, but is already coming to a conclusion that life is not worth living. 


I don't think I could even count how many people I come into contact with each day, but I know that each and everyone holds the potential for God to move. For God to redeem. But there is only one way that this will ever be able to happen and thats by being who God has called us all to be. In Mark 1:16-20 we see Jesus pick his first followers. We see how they drop everything and just go with Jesus, but something that sticks out even more to me is in verse 17. "Jesus said to them, 'Come follow me, and I will make you fish for people." You see Simon and Andrew were fisherman, like many of that day. As fisherman, they fished. You wouldn't say that they were fisherman if they didn't fish, right? Just like you wouldn't call someone who didn't cook a chef or someone who didn't paint a painter. But Jesus changes their occupation just slightly in verse 17, saying they will now be fishers of people. So likewise if you do not fish for people then you wouldn't be deemed a fisher of people. 


Christ calls us ALL to be fishers of people. That is our job, our calling, our occupation first and foremost. And with the vast amount of people that we come into contact with each and everyday, I'd say we have no excuse to not fulfill this role. Yet, more than half of this country claims to be "Christian". I'd challenge you and ask are you a "Christian" or are you a "fisher"? Because the term Christian is only a term society has deemed. Fisher is an occupation Christ has called us to. The world is hurting. The world is in need of a Savior, Jesus Christ. And they will only come to know him if we, as followers of Christ, are faithful to the task He has called us to. If we take the thousands of opportunities that stand right in front of us. 

Baby Musician

This semester I somehow ended up taking two music classes, guitar and piano. I am just starting to learn on both of them so as you can imagine I'm seeing a lot of black and white these days! But something even odder has been happening. Somehow while I'm sitting on my guard stand at work, I realize I'm making up songs of my own in my head. So the other day I was just singing this one free for all, but then realized I should probably be writing these down. Now I know that these lyrics don't do much apart from the music and please remember I am a baby musician, but I thought I'd share with you the first song I actually wrote down! 


Every day I wake up and I think to myself,
Lord, you're not done with me,
Lord, you're not done with me quite yet.


And so today I'm gonna die to myself
because I'm not my own
and His glory demands my death. 


But how could I in this human flesh
bring any worth to Christ our Lord.
I'm just a sinner caught up in myself
but praise the Lord,
today I've died to myself. 


You see, redemptions not just a one time gift
its an ever continuous trip
And so each day I've gotta die to myself.
That's the only way this flesh can live. 


This story is Yours 
From creation to fall
from Christ on earth,
in glorious birth.
From Jesus stoned 
and brutal death.
From the risen tomb
to His return that shall be soon.
You alone have penned my worth. 


So this is how this human flesh 
can bring any worth to Christ our Lord.
This is how this sinners heart
is no longer on myself.
It's all in His and my death. 


Through my death
and Christ's true gift
I've learned that I have my part in Your story
it's no longer just a list
of numerous scripts
its the story of You and me
the story of how you wanted it to be.


I thank you that
You died to redeem us all
Now I die daily to fulfill Your call.