“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
At once they left their nets and followed him.
Matthew 4:19-20
The most important word in this passage is the word “and.” It is important because it serves to unites these two things together- the following of Jesus and the serving of Jesus. This means that in following Jesus, fishing for men is not optional. And in fishing for men, following Jesus is not optional. But rather, those two things are tied together and are inseperable.
And so, if we are set on serving the Lord, this passage instructs us that we need to first follow Christ. And in following Christ, we are called to surrender all.
And when we surrender, the fruit will come. There is no fruit if there is no surrender. But for the man who has died to himself and has become alive in Christ, he is the man who is effective in the kingdom. He is the one who is highly esteemed in heaven because he made himself useful to the Lord. His life is not marked with self-promotion or self-agendas, but an unwavering attitude that says, “Lord, not my will be done, but Yours.”
God uses people who submit to His ways and to His wisdom. He will not expand His kingdom on our grounds or on our rules. He is not seeking partnership with us, but ownership.
He does not need our gifts, our talents, or our skills. There is nothing we can offer God other than our absolute surrender. And if He would use us for unnoble purposes, we have nothing to complain about. If He would rather raise someone else up to do the job, we have nothing to complain about. For we are the dust of the earth, here today and gone tomorrow.
But nonetheless, the promise is set forth. Do you want to be a fisher of men? You want to be mighty in the kingdom of God? Then surrender.
