Page 123 - BACK TO BETHLEHEM
P. 123

things.  He wants you to be you and He wants Himself to be
             God.  Stay out of the Godhead!  Don’t try to be God!  Don’t try
             to do what only God can do!  Be yourself, with your gifts, your
             vocation, your calling, and your interests.
                       When  you  go  fishing  it  might  be  sales  or  it  might  be
             teaching or it might be farming or it might be inventing or it
             might be a machinist or a doctor or a lawyer or a housewife.
             Just be who you are and wait for Jesus to show up.  It doesn’t
             matter if you are selling pencils or shining shoes or going to
             school or if you are retired.  Until Jesus shows up, just live.  If
             you are going to understand the Great Commission, it begins
             there.  Just live and wait for Jesus.

                       When he went fishing God began to lay down principles
             of the Great Commission.  Let me show you at least three things
             that  Peter  learned.    The  first  thing  he  learned  in  the  Great
             Commission is what I’ve already mentioned; that is that I’m not
             a fisherman.  I’m not a soul winner.  I’m not a missionary.  I’m
             not an evangelist.  For Peter, this was a refresher course.  Three
             years before, he had a similar experience.  On the level of earth,
             he fished all night.  He fished in the shallows.  He was an expert
             with  the  nets.    He  wasn’t  lazy.    He  fished  all  night.    Some
             fishermen have a bad day.  He had more than a bad day.  When
             you have a bad day you catch a few fish.  He worked all night
             and he caught nothing.
                      The first thing God teaches us in the Great Commission is
             that we don’t know how to fish.  John 21:5, “Jesus therefore
             said to them, ‘Children,  you do not  have any  fish, do you?”
             They answered Him, ‘No.’”   “Have you caught any fish,” and
             they  had  to  say,  “No.”      If  you  want  to  fulfill  the  Great
             Commission you’ve got to see that you can’t do it.  You can’t
             do it, God can do it but He won’t.  He says, “I won’t do it by
             myself and you can’t do it but I will do it in union with you.

                       Peter learned, “I can’t do it.  I’m not sufficient.”  Here is
             the second lesson, John 21:6, “And he said to them, ‘Cast the
             net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you will find a catch.’
             They cast therefore, and then they were not able to haul it in
             because of the great number of fish.”  I can’t do it but He can.
   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128