Go Fishing

Here's the simple truth. If you want to catch fish, you have to go where the fish are. Jesus understood that principle. As an avid Fisherman of men and women, Jesus went where the people were. In the opening verse of John 4, the apostle recorded, "[Jesus] left Judea and went away again into Galilee. And He had to pass through Samaria" (verses 3-4).

Had to pass through Samaria? Why? There were certainly other routes Jesus could have taken from Judea to the northern region of Galilee. But Jesus "had to pass through Samaria" because He had a divine appointment with a potential new "catch" for His kingdom. Instead of hanging out in a monastery with His disciples, Jesus was regularly hitting the pavement recruiting new converts. During the three brief years He spent here on earth, His goal was not isolation, but influence. And He urged us to adopt the same mind-set as well: "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? ... You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden" (Matthew 5:13-14).