Daily devotion – fishers of men
Act 17:32 When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.”
Ever heard of the saying, “It’s like herding kittens!”
We all know what cats are like, independent, not herd animals at all. Impossible to gather or to lead, unlike sheep.
One of the biggest lessons I have learned over the years as a pastor is that I cannot pastor people who are not saved. I cannot expect people who have not been born again and received the Holy Spirit in their lives, to live like Christians. Much of my early frustrations as a pastor was trying to do that, encourage people not saved to pray and read their Bibles and serve the Lord, – and it cannot be done.
Many people attend Church for a number of reasons other than having Christ as their Lord and Saviour, sadly! They might go because a friend does, or they like the music, or they enjoy the friendliness of the people, the religious aspect of going to Church might make them feel nice when they are there. Or they attend as a sense of duty.
But as of Monday to Sunday, they live, think and follow the way of the world.
Why bring this subject up? Sometimes our mission field can be the person sitting right next to us on a Sunday morning or evening. We need to keep our ears and hearts open to the Lord and pray for each and every person who enters CCSH. We need to pray for the children, the youth and all those we see in Church. There are times that a person has attended a Church even for years, yet never given their heart to Christ, not taken that step to surrender their lives and become born again.
This is why you will hear the CCSH Pastors, at the end of most messages Sunday after Sunday, throw the net, in other words give an alter call, an opportunity for people to come and receive Christ. When you hear that, don’t switch off, or get ready to leave. No, at that moment, if you are a Christian, that is the moment, that is the call for you to pray for those who do not know Christ to surrender their lives to Him, and finally commit their lives to being a follower of Jesus Christ and accept Him as their Lord and Saviour.
One cannot catch fish unless one throws the net!
Acts 17:2 As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. 3 He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” 4 Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.
5 But some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot