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Intention
Jesus is calling you to be an effective winner of souls in these last days.

Scripture

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men [people].”
—Matthew 4:19

Reflection
Winning people to Jesus is not some gift that God gives especially to evangelists alone. It’s His gift to everyone who will tell others about the salvation He provides through Jesus.

Jesus’ first words to His disciples in Matthew are: “Come, follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19) When Jesus says this, He is defining the role of the soul-winner. He calls you to come to Him, and then He tells you to follow Him. Then He makes you into a winner of souls. Finally, He grants you results from your work. These results will be in terms of people hearing the Good News, as well as actual souls being won to Christ.

Jesus refers to the soul-winner as a person who is of good and noble heart producing a crop.

“But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:15)

So how do you come to Him and follow Him? And how does He make you to be a fisher of the people who are brought to Him through you?

First of all, Jesus is saying “Come to Me!” By drawing near to Him in prayer, our hearts become enflamed with the same Spirit that fills His heart. We are deeply united with Him in His passion to seek and to save those who are lost. (See Luke 19:10)

Then Jesus says “Follow Me”. Jesus’ example is to seek and to save those who are lost. Jesus focused more on the individual than the crowds. Some of our best stories about Jesus are when He speaks to people one on one. He reaches out to Nathaniel, Peter, the woman at Jacob’s well, Nicodemus, the Pharisee, the man healed of blindness, Zacchaeus in Jericho, and many others.

Thirdly, Jesus says, “I will make you…” Jesus is saying that He will enable you to bring others to faith. He will be at work in and through you as you speak. He will create the opportunities for you to tell others about Him. He will send the Holy Spirit into people’s lives so that they are convinced of their guilt before God and their need for salvation.

Finally in the verse, Jesus also used the phrase “fishers of men”. He was revealing to them that He would show the way to win men from darkness to His light. He was also assuring them that they would see real results.

When you are connected to Jesus, there will be real results. You will see people come to a living faith in the living God through Him. So don’t be afraid. Just as Jesus says, “from now on you will catch men”. All you have to do is to come to Him, follow Him, and then He will make you a fisher of men—and women and young people and even children, as God grants you opportunity.

For a very effective Gospel presentation called The Way Of Life that you can download onto your mobile or other device, click here and register. You will instantly receive free resources, a guidebook, and ongoing training.

Prayer
Dear Father, thank You for awakening me to Jesus’ call to be a soul-winner and a disciple-maker. I come to You today. I promise with Your help to follow Jesus’ example. And I trust You to anoint me for the task of bringing lost people to Jesus. I pray this in His wonderful Name. Amen.

31 Days Prayer Points
1. Pray for five people and share the Good News of Jesus with them.
2. Pray that God would use His people to reach one billion people this May.
3. Pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic, both in Australia and globally.

Tony McLennan was previously the CEO of the Bible League. Seeing the need for Christians to be equipped to effectively share the Gospel, he co-founded Australia for Jesus with like-minded believers. He has dedicated the next five years to help raise up 10,000 soul-winners across Australia and New Zealand.

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