"Then He said to them, 'Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.'" (Matthew 4:19)
I have shared before that many, many years ago I said to the Lord, "I'm not a very good, "fisher[] of men." The response was "quick" and something I had never thought of before, "Fish in the waters of your testimony."
Now for sure, all of us have a "testimony." Have you thought about yours lately? I remember when I was in Intervarsity Fellowship in college, the regional guy had us write out our testimony, and only using one side of an 8x11 sheet of paper. It was a good discipline, because I tend to have the general problem of giving people more information than they want or are interested in.
That exercise was about 57 years ago. A whole lot of water has gone over the falls since those days, as well as a host of life experiences which has contributed to my testimony, which you probably know if you have been reading these devotionals for any length of time. Yet there is a "common thread" in all of our testimonies; His Name is Jesus Christ. We, "have all sinned and come short of the glory of God," and, "There is none righteous, no, not one"; therefore, all humanity needs our Lord and Savior, Jesus, that we might be, "born from above," to receive the forgiveness of sin, and become a member of, "the Household of faith," and citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven.
From the New Birth on, however, the life of conversion begins, a change of life style, renewing of our minds, etc. And, during life's developments we go through much, times when the hand of Jesus manifests His Faithfulness and keeping power every day. But I learned over the years that when a person gives his heart to Jesus at an early age, you generally do not appreciate just how powerful is Jesus' work in our lives. In the calendar year of 1970, I was to discover a "keeping power" in Jesus Christ which I could not have imagined before. I write this today, still loving Jesus, serving Jesus, His Church, and Kingdom because of Jesus' deliverance from something of what Bunyon called the "Slough of Despond," a "despond" which is beyond description.
The Church of Jesus is an organism of testimonies. Don't give someone else's, pass out religious cliches, or just quote words of people whom you admire. There is a uniqueness about your testimony which someone, somewhere needs to hear and see, probably even today. Write it down. As the hymn says, "....and it will surprise you what the Lord has done."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I still pray to be Your faithful fisher of men. Amen.
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I will be in Washington, DC on April 9, 2019. The schedule which I sent to you the other day has changed. Hotels are running close to $500.00. I will leave here at 06:30 on the 9th and return that evening. The hearing and briefing schedule is still the same.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
