Making
Matthew 4:19"Come," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."This was my memory verse for the day, and I was quite irritated by it.I was irritated simply because it was so easy, and it seemed to simple, too flat, and I wondered if there was anything truly worthwhile I could glean off of it. Turns out, there was. And when I thought about it, it just blew my mind wide open.THe focus of the sentence for me became on the word "make" which really means to take artistry, creativity, and active effort to create, render, achieve and complete something. For Christ to say I will "make" you anything, is an incredible thought. It underscores not only just His authority and power, but His POWER. THe word "make" implies a change, a before and an after.
THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF FISHING AND ITS SPIRITUAL IMPLICATIONS
Before that, perhaps Peter, Andrew, James, and John thought that they were fishers. Maybe they hated their jobs, maybe they thought they found purpose and meaning through providing food for others. Maybe they just wanted money, capitalist minded. But for Christ to say, I will MAKE you, it meant that He would change their lives, He would turn their profession upside down, inside out, and they would catch men, not just mere fish. Where they previously imagined providing sustenance, they would now provide spiritual food through their roles as fishermen. Caleb's food chain describes it this way: plants are primary producers, primary consumers are fish and fishermen, secondary consumers who also become secondary producers. THey catch, and produce for others to consume as per the market mechanism- part of the benefits of organised society (Adam Smith 4 Stages of Development) In God's hierarchy, they were to become just that- secondary consumers and producers too. By catching other men for GOd, they would be consuming on a secondary level. However, those men would become fishers of men too, just like them, and thus be producers too. The chain goes both ways in God's kingdom, and it's all because Christ was going to MAKE them something that they were not.
HOW DOES ONE MAKE A FISHER-OF-MEN? AGAINST ALL ODDS
How was He going to MAKE them something they were not? The confidence of Christ in that simple sentence was surely unfounded- to be a fisher of men, He would have to plant the desire to catch and witness in them, He would have to equip them, and He would have to establish a system in which they could survive (much like the fish market system that a fisherman would be a partcipant of). They would resist His desire to plant His passion and His drive in their hearts surely, and they would prove to be incompetent and too dull to understand the complexity of all He was teaching them. And the church that they would lead and serve in would simply be too self-centred, and filled with problems, and ridden with wrong doctrine etc. But nonetheless, all Jesus said was, I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN., note the imperative form. Against all odds, Christ would do it.MAKINGTHe Lord Jesus Christ, who was there at the beginning of time and watched the universe created, would have no problems saying, I will MAKE you ____. The sentence alone seems to imply no free will - if I'm going to be MADE something, I don't really have a choice. If I'm made a fool, I can't change facts and not be a fool. ANd God alone has the authority to makership, to creation c.f. "Maker of heaven and earth". We try and make things all the time. BUt in reality, we can't MAKE anything happen, we only innovate, and capitalise on the appearance of things made. No one made electricity, we only figured out how it works. God made electricity. Similarly, only Christ could say taht He would plant His gospel in those fishermen's hearts and make them something they were not. Like them, GOd is making us today, and once He starts, He won't stop. The Bible says in Phil 1:6 "He who has begun a good work in you will complete on the day of Jesus Christ." God will make us complete one day, even as we ask Him to make us___. What does HE require for this to happen? He requires us to come, to make the free choice to come and let Him make us something beautiful. Making requires free will to subject ourselves to taht work and construction, that sanctification. ONce it begins, nothing can be reversed or changed. God is in the business of making us, and He will finish us all, one day.
A GOSPEL OF MAKING
THe word "making" holds so much depth, really. As God is making us perfect, as He makes us fishers of men, it reminds me that by nature, we are not meant to be these things. This is a form of intervention on God's part, His making makes us complete when our making of things just made it a big mess. Sin, the Fall were results of man's making, and only God's act of making things new, making things different, holds any hope for you and me today. The word "making" means gospel, because it offers us a chance to change and be saved, and for us to have a part to play in His evangelistic ministry. The next time we pray, let's ask God to make us more like Him, to make us fishers of men. ANd as we Come, Jesus will make us better.Lord, Make me an instrument of the peace. Amen.
THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF FISHING AND ITS SPIRITUAL IMPLICATIONS
Before that, perhaps Peter, Andrew, James, and John thought that they were fishers. Maybe they hated their jobs, maybe they thought they found purpose and meaning through providing food for others. Maybe they just wanted money, capitalist minded. But for Christ to say, I will MAKE you, it meant that He would change their lives, He would turn their profession upside down, inside out, and they would catch men, not just mere fish. Where they previously imagined providing sustenance, they would now provide spiritual food through their roles as fishermen. Caleb's food chain describes it this way: plants are primary producers, primary consumers are fish and fishermen, secondary consumers who also become secondary producers. THey catch, and produce for others to consume as per the market mechanism- part of the benefits of organised society (Adam Smith 4 Stages of Development) In God's hierarchy, they were to become just that- secondary consumers and producers too. By catching other men for GOd, they would be consuming on a secondary level. However, those men would become fishers of men too, just like them, and thus be producers too. The chain goes both ways in God's kingdom, and it's all because Christ was going to MAKE them something that they were not.
HOW DOES ONE MAKE A FISHER-OF-MEN? AGAINST ALL ODDS
How was He going to MAKE them something they were not? The confidence of Christ in that simple sentence was surely unfounded- to be a fisher of men, He would have to plant the desire to catch and witness in them, He would have to equip them, and He would have to establish a system in which they could survive (much like the fish market system that a fisherman would be a partcipant of). They would resist His desire to plant His passion and His drive in their hearts surely, and they would prove to be incompetent and too dull to understand the complexity of all He was teaching them. And the church that they would lead and serve in would simply be too self-centred, and filled with problems, and ridden with wrong doctrine etc. But nonetheless, all Jesus said was, I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN., note the imperative form. Against all odds, Christ would do it.MAKINGTHe Lord Jesus Christ, who was there at the beginning of time and watched the universe created, would have no problems saying, I will MAKE you ____. The sentence alone seems to imply no free will - if I'm going to be MADE something, I don't really have a choice. If I'm made a fool, I can't change facts and not be a fool. ANd God alone has the authority to makership, to creation c.f. "Maker of heaven and earth". We try and make things all the time. BUt in reality, we can't MAKE anything happen, we only innovate, and capitalise on the appearance of things made. No one made electricity, we only figured out how it works. God made electricity. Similarly, only Christ could say taht He would plant His gospel in those fishermen's hearts and make them something they were not. Like them, GOd is making us today, and once He starts, He won't stop. The Bible says in Phil 1:6 "He who has begun a good work in you will complete on the day of Jesus Christ." God will make us complete one day, even as we ask Him to make us___. What does HE require for this to happen? He requires us to come, to make the free choice to come and let Him make us something beautiful. Making requires free will to subject ourselves to taht work and construction, that sanctification. ONce it begins, nothing can be reversed or changed. God is in the business of making us, and He will finish us all, one day.
A GOSPEL OF MAKING
THe word "making" holds so much depth, really. As God is making us perfect, as He makes us fishers of men, it reminds me that by nature, we are not meant to be these things. This is a form of intervention on God's part, His making makes us complete when our making of things just made it a big mess. Sin, the Fall were results of man's making, and only God's act of making things new, making things different, holds any hope for you and me today. The word "making" means gospel, because it offers us a chance to change and be saved, and for us to have a part to play in His evangelistic ministry. The next time we pray, let's ask God to make us more like Him, to make us fishers of men. ANd as we Come, Jesus will make us better.Lord, Make me an instrument of the peace. Amen.
posted by leb at 8:53 PM
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