Do not neglect to do good or to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Matthew 4:18-22 tell about Jesus walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, finding 2 sets of brothers, Peter & Andrew, James & John working their fishing nets, inviting them to leave their livelihood to catch people rather than fish. There are 3 principles we can glean from these verses. First, Jesus was intentional in choosing people who had interpersonal skills. How do we know that? They were brothers in the same business & they were getting along with each other. I have to tell you that there are times when getting along with family is very difficult. Jesus called them to become ministers of the Gospel because they loved people. Second, they both had excellent work ethics. They were gainfully employed. They had initiatives that kept them in business. Third, they had teachable spirits. Matthew said immediately, they left their nets, forsook their trade & followed Jesus. Jesus took them from a 1 dimensional business, fishing for fish, to a multi-dimensional business of catching all kinds of people. This is what church people are supposed to look & act like. Are you easy to get along with, can you help the church move forward & do you have that gift of allowing others to teach you? Since you have been called yourself to receive Jesus Christ as savior you too should be willing to show others the way. If I go to the Flint River to fish for Crappie, I know exactly what kind of bait, places & time to go to catch them; and I WILL catch crappie. On the other hand, if I go to the flats off the Florida shores, I take a particular bait that is good for catching speckled trout. BUT I catch flounder, grouper, redfish & a variety of other fish along with the speckled trout. The same is true of our calling as Christians. Let’s see now; good people skills, work ethics & teachable spirit; this sounds like what a Christian ought to be like. We drop our lives down into everyday living, meet various and sundry people & we are supposed to catch these people for Jesus Christ. My desire is to teach each person in the church to venture out into this world so they might look for all kinds of people to reel in for Jesus. It is the responsibility of the church to move out from their lounge chairs of comfort to the streets of lost & dying people to reach them for Christ. You are in church on most Sunday mornings because you found Christ, he called you to leave your present life & move to the next level of witnessing for him. You were friendly, you had good work ethics & you had a teachable spirit. Now let’s get busy & look for others who desire to be called by God into the Kingdom but just don’t know how to get there. But you know & you can lead them to our precious Savior. In the name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit, AMEN. kent