Jesus chose fisherman and simple men to be his disciples because they had much more of a quality of innocence. He did not choose ‘learned’ men from among the lawyers, scribes, priests, or rabbis because they had hard and fixed ideas. The later think they know better and are not inwardly malleable to be taught.
A fisherman, or ‘fisher of souls’ needs to be able to reach people where they live, and to teach the truths of the Word they have learned. They also need to be able to obey the inner teacher, which is Jesus. It takes strength, skill and perseverance to stand by His standards, and no human is ever perfect at it. The quality of innocence is what allows us to receive and grow into it, and to forgive ourselves for our mistakes.
‘Behold I will send for many fishers, saith Jehovah, and they shall fish the sons of Israel’ (Jer. 16:16).
Jesus told Peter, after he had caught the multitude of fishes, ‘Henceforth thou shalt catch men’ (Luke 5:9, 10)”. A fisher of men dedicates themself to self growth and serving others in the course of their ordinary life. They go through trials and stay the course to overcome. Yes, it takes a strong person to go through this process of deep growth and becoming internal. It is not easy, a lot of people bail because of pride and can’t face the pain and be humbled. Many preachers today preach from ambition and the prestige it gives them. But a pastor has to humbly receive spiritual intelligence from the Word, has to develop enough self perception to see the difference between their own issues and others in order to be a good servant.
Peter is a good example. He crashed and burned many times, but in the end became a faithful and dedicated servant of the Lord as did the other disciples.
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