May 30

“They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets.” —MATTHEW 4:21

In Jesus’ day, the basic tool for fishermen would have been their nets, and nets required preparation in order to haul in a good catch. Symbolically speaking, we, too, have nets to prepare in order to lead people to Christ, but how do we go about preparing our nets?

In the four Gospels, several times we find the disciples either mending their nets, preparing their nets, washing their nets or casting their nets. Every net has two contrasting forces at work; the floats, usually made of cork, which keeps one side of the net on the surface of the water, and the weights, usually made of lead, placed along the other side of the net, just heavy enough to cause it to sink into the water.

For the Gospel net, the analogy Jesus uses, we need a net that has both the floats, which tell us the good news of the Gospel, and the weights, which tell us the bad news, the fact of our brokenness and sinfulness, which is why we need the good news. If all we have are the floats, it will become a superficial, sort of half-gospel that will just keep floating around on the water.

We are often tempted to convey only the goodness of the Gospel, and neglect telling people why it is needed. The law of God reveals His moral character and exposes our sin, but many don’t realize their diagnosis - that we are all fallen people. There has to come a time when metaphorically, if not literally, we look into a mirror and realize our biggest problem is ourselves. The law of God, the weights on the net, has to bring us to that point of saying, “It is me who is sick,” and we call that sickness ‘sin’.

It is these weights on the net, making us aware of our fallen condition that requires we recognize our sin has to be dealt with. Jesus Christ came as the perfect substitute to pay the penalty for our sin. There has to come that moment when God opens our hearts and minds to receive Him.

Christ is the Good News, the floats on our net. Let’s prepare our nets, putting both the weights and floats on, and cast them out. People need to know they need saving, and that they have a saviour in Jesus Christ.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, I want my net to be in good working order. Help me to put both the floats and weights on in such a way that people will be drawn to You. Thank You, Lord.

TO REFLECT UPON: In witnessing for Christ, do I focus on both the good news of the Gospel and why it is needed?