12-11-2023

Good Morning All,

       Mark 1: 17; “And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

      I recall talking to one of the members of our church who is an avid fisherman.  I asked him how fishing was going, and he said it was going “really good.”  He said the river (Missouri) was way up and “things” were biting pretty good.  He said he had caught some walleye and some northern over the weekend and most were “keepers.”  A “keeper” is a fish that you keep and not throw back into the river so it can grow more.  A “keeper” is a successful catch; a “keeper” is the goal of every fisherman. 

     That is what we are to do as “fishers of men;” we are to catch keepers.  The thing is, to God, all are keepers.  God wants all to be saved.  No matter what has occurred in your life; to God you are a keeper.  If you have betrayed a marriage or ended a pregnancy or stole or killed; it doesn’t matter; you are a keeper.  If you have been abused and made to feel worthless and unlovable; God sees you as a keeper.  God sees all his children as keepers.  He wants them all caught and brought to him.  He sends out believers to “catch” those who are still waiting.

    So as God sends us out to be the fishermen, we need to see that all are keepers.  We need to lose our own selfish views that same are unworthy or are too bad for God to want to keep.  We need to understand that the only reason we are a keeper is because of God’s love and not our own self value.   We, by nature, are not worth keeping.  We are only worth keeping because of God’s great mercy.  Yet we are made worth keeping because of Jesus’s sacrifice for us.

    So, you are worth keeping and I am worth keeping; so is the homeless guy or the unwed mother.  The guy with the addiction is a keeper.  The lady that no one speaks kindly to is a keeper.  In God’s eyes, we are all keepers and isn’t that what really matters?  What really matters is that you are a keeper to God.  You have value to God; his love for you is beyond measure and he wants to keep you in his loving family.

    So, as we go out today, try and see people as God sees them.  Try and see them as your brothers and sisters, as someone that is a keeper to God ad should be a keeper to us as well.  Look past the shallowness of the world and see someone who God loves so much that he sent his Son to die for them just as he sent his Son to die for you.  To the world, no one is a keeper but to God we all are.  So free yourself from the sadness and the guilt of believing that you are not worth keeping because you are worth keeping.  Just remember that those people who you see each day are worth keeping as well and that God desires that you “catch” them.  God desires that you share with them God’s love and mercy.  Show them the kindness and love that God shows you.

Father of all mercy, you desire that all people be saved.  Keep us safe in your loving arms.  Guide us to those who are in most need of your mercy.  Guide us to those who are in need of your gracious forgiveness.  Help us to bring them peace.  In the precious name of Jesus, our Risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret