Why did Jesus choose ordinary fishermen to account for almost half of his group of disciples?
Leslie Leyland Fields says there are several good reason why Jesus chose hard-working fishermen to be his closest companions. Leslie herself has a background in commercial fishing, she speaks from experience.
“Fishermen are like farmers, they’re completely dependent on the providence of God. We can buy the best nets that we can find, we can keep them mended, we can know where to put our nets, we can have all this human knowledge, but unless God sends the fish, we’re not going to catch anything.”
Fishermen already know what it means to rely on God.
“So every time we throw our nets in the water, and every time the disciples threw their nets in the water, it’s kind of like a prayer, it’s like saying give us this day our daily bread. It’s a supplication to God, Lord feed us.”
Being a fisherman is not a job for one person, and neither is navigating life on earth.
“We know if we’re going to get anything done we have to work together. We have to coordinate. This is a really important attribute for the disciples because it’s the same thing with us. We’re the body of Christ. We’re not we’re not supposed to be a little finger going out there on our own resource, were supposed to function together as a body.”
Many of us might think that Jesus would have selected the brightest minds of the Synagogues to be his disciples. However, that wasn’t the case.
“He turned away from the synagogue, He walked down to the beach. He walked down to where the people were and where they were working hard. He went to the blue collar people and He showed them that we don’t have to be smart. We don’t have to be rich. We don’t have to be famous. Jesus wants one thing from us. He wants us to want Him. He wants us to be seeking Him.”
Leslie Leyland Fields is a writer, editor, and national speaker who lives on Kodiak Island, Alaska in the winter and Harvester Island in the summer, where she joins her family in a commercial salmon fishing operation.
Featured Songs: Oceans – Hillsong; It Is Well – Bethel; All is Well – Michael W. Smith & Carrie
Crossing the Waters
