A Devotional by Pastor Cesar Castellanos
Today’s Bible Verse
“Come follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
Matthew 4:19
Learning to Fish for Men
True happiness comes when our soul is at peace with God. If believers have the same passion to win the lost, as some have had to achieve wealth and fame, I’m sure that this world would fully belong to the Lord.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus said to Simon and Andrew, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men?” It is because winning souls requires the same skill as being a fisherman. Their success depends on practice and patience. The soul-winner must have persistent faith in order to see the fruit of their labor. Being an excellent observer, the Apostle Paul learned to follow up every person he reached for Christ. To those who were wise, he was wise; to the foolish, he became like a fool; when dealing with the weak, he appeared as one of them. This was and still is the best way to win the lost to the Lord.
The soul-winner must understand what led Jesus to lay down His precious life for a sinful and rebellious world. There is no doubt that the reason He did this stemmed from His great compassion. His impact on the history of mankind was so great, that there is a clear difference between what we were before accepting His salvation and what we are after that step of faith. All of the weaknesses and failings that we carried were absorbed on the Cross of Calvary, as if pulled by a powerful magnet. So Jesus said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32). The death of Jesus on that Cross drew all of man’s suffering, oppression, agony and curse. Jesus Christ is the only one who can take us out of darkness and bring us into light. Only He can give us life and life to the full.
Something to Think About
After preaching a message that challenged the church to awaken from a deep sleep into which we had fallen about rising up to win souls, Johanna my daughter approached me to say, “Daddy, I think that my husband and I have the strategy to reach a hundred thousand people in one month.” A week later, in a very simple way, they presented their plan. “In our ministry, we have two thousand leaders. If each leader wins three people per day, for five days per week, for four weeks, we will have won more than a hundred thousand people.” It seemed so right that we implemented the strategy within the different teams of the twelve. Each one of the twelve, along with their two thousand leaders went out to evangelize for an entire month. In three short months they had shared the gospel with over one million people, who made their confession of faith.
Prayer
Dear God, thank You for choosing me to be a winner of souls. I know that it is only by Your love, compassion and mercy that I can carry the message of hope, redemption and faith to those who need it. I know it saved me. Therefore, I can do the same for others. I exalt You, Lord Jesus, Amen.
Declaration
There’s a burning passion in my heart to bring redemption to my generation.
Today’s Bible Reading
- Old Testament: Ezekiel 9-12; Job 3
- New Testament: John 8:1-11; 2 Peter 2:1-9
