I love how the Holy Spirit opens up the scripture to me, how He sheds light on verses of the bible for me to see things I didn’t see before. And other times He just breathes upon the verse for newness. This past week, He started to open my eyes to Jesus’s word in Mathew 4:19 while I was at my church’s weekly Manna Water service. Although the man of God emphasized different aspects of this verse and other related verses, the Holy Spirit showed me other things that I will be sharing in this blog post.
God’s Word is Yes and Amen
Mathew chapter highlights how Jesus Christ began His ministry; just like every ministry that is established today- Jesus Christ needed to select a group of people to ensure continuity even after He left the earth. He saw a group of young men who were going about their businesses and He called out to them. He said to them, “‘ Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” – Mathew 4:19. And these men immediately left their fish nets and followed Jesus. Did these men become fishers of men? Yes! But did this happen overnight? No!
These men became powerful men of God that we still read about to date. They could have lived their regular lives as fishermen without exactly fulfilling their divine purposes on earth. But thank God, they had an encounter with Jesus Christ who changed the course of their lives with His word- “I will make you fishers of me”. Although, this manifestation took a process- the fact that these men became fishers of men just as Jesus said to them is proof, pointer, validation, and reminder that God’s word is yes and Amen and would always come true given we yield to His voice.
There is usually a Season Between God’s Word and its manifestation
Furthermore, this becoming fishers of men was a process for these men. A close look at the time frame from when Jesus’ declaration to its manifestation, we can see that it took at least three years. These years before the manifestation were salient in helping these men form deep roots in the Lord. Sometimes, there may be no time lapse before God’s word becomes reality for His children but many times there is usually that period where or when it seems like God is silent. Yet again, we learn from this verse that God was working on these men to become the ideal fishers of men who were able to stand the tests of time, and stand the tribulation waged against them. It was very wise of these men to spend time with Jesus Christ to learn of Him and from Him. All through scripture we can see the same pattern with our Lord as He speaks over His children. There was a season between the moment God promised Abraham descendants as numbered as the stars in the skies till the time Abraham held his promised child – Isaac. There was a season between the promised messiah till the time Jesus Christ was born. Even more so, there was a season between the angel’s announcement of the birth of Jesus Christ till He was born. And even after God acknowledged Jesus Christ as His beloved, there was a season before that and the full manifestation of Jesus’ ministry. It is expedient that we be aware of this season and maximize it.
We have our roles to play in the Fulfillment of God’s Word – Faith without works is dead:
Becoming fishers of men as Jesus Christ declared over His apostles required their consent, collaboration, and willingness. Their making into fishers of men began with their immediate response – the bible tells us that they immediately forsook everything and followed Jesus Christ- Mathew 4:20. Nicodemus had the same opportunity but he more or less did not forsake his wealth and fame to follow Jesus Christ. This making continued with their intentional submission to learn at the feet of Jesus Christ, to fellowship with Him, to obey and become baptized with the Holy Ghost. This is a pointer for us to stay unrelenting in our fellowship with the Lord as well as in our submission and obedience to Him. Though His word may tarry, it is for an appointed time, wait for it, it will surely come – Habbukuk 2:3
In summary, we need to play our roles in seeing and living in God’s word for our lives. For the disciples, they had to forsake all to follow Jesus. Perhaps God is asking the same of you today or He is asking that you just believe Him, and trust Him. Whatever it is, tune in to the Lord to know what He wants you to do in this phase or season of your life.
The Holy Spirit is a major Collaborator in Creating and breathing life upon God’s Word in Our lives :
The works of the Holy Spirit in bringing God’s word to manifestation in our lives we cannot over-emphasize in our lives. I mean think of it, God spoke things into existence right after His spirit hovered over the earth. Similarly with the manifestation of God’s word in the lives of the disciples – He instructed them to wait for the baptism of the Holy Ghost in the upper room. Right after they got baptized, they shook the world forever. The same day they got baptized, Peter who was somewhat timid spoke to a crowd and over 5000 people gave their lives to Christ. Do you know the beauty of Jesus making of these men? Men and women still read epistles from these apostles and their lives are changed. Even after their death, their lives, and works still live on. God blesses and beautifies men and women without adding any sorrow.
So my dear brother and sister in Christ who is waiting for Jesus to make you, He is making you. Trust God with all your heart, don’t lean on your understanding. And my dear friend who is undecided about walking with Jesus, I implore you to say yes to Him today. Follow Him today and He will make you all that God has designed you to be.
You can watch the compressed version of this post here: