THE NET

Jesus said he would make us fishers of men. God doesn’t send us out to fish for men with a rod ‘n’ reel. He sends us out with a net. It’s a huge net and it takes many, many in the body to draw the net through society. Some get away. Some were missed. But there’s always a catch. Others will be caught when we swing back through.

The net; I love the thought of net fishing. The net is huge. It’s not the size of a volley ball net. It spans generational time and human plan. It takes saints of all ages to hold on to it. Peter and Paul were two of the first to begin to unfold it. The net is not of cord but of Christian seed sown to the Holy Spirit wind. A song written, by Charles Wesley here, a plane assembled by Boeing there, a pie baked by a widow in 1843, and a note extending an invitation written in 674….the weaving of individual and quite meager threads become “the net”. Do you see it?

The net sweeps across and back. It turns and dips at an angle to snare one more God is faithfully trying to reach. The net…which includes our involvement…takes in souls ‘round the clock. We are soul winners. While some of us slept last night the net was drawn in by the Spirit. There was perhaps a prisoner from the interior of the Ukraine, a single mother from Vermont, a cab driver from Tokyo, and maybe a school teacher swept into the love of Christ from Nigeria. The net is simply complex. It snags souls. Our faith and love and vision move the net.

The late Charles Coil still keeps this net afloat by the eternal seed of the living kingdom he sowed in the 20th century. Although Garrett Henley only lasted seven months on earth, he joined in the sweep by connecting to the net. Faye Holmes, Amanda Sanders, Tom Dahlman, Linda Thomas, Van Priest, Theresa Underwood, Jack Maynard….and millions like them form the net. We are not becoming soul winners. We are soul winners. We think we cover an insignificant square footage of abode, but in reality we cover earth with the glorious net of faith in God.

Good for us!