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Today Jesus says to Peter, “I will make you a fisher of men.” Key to Peter’s success will be patience.
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Now I have two rubber bands in my hand.
One is very long. The other is very short.
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Some of us are like this long rubber band. We’re incredibly patient. We can be stretched a long, long way – miles – before we snap.
Others are like this tiny rubber band – we can only be stretched a little before we snap.
Which one am I like? This long one or the short one?
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Ultimately, it doesn’t matter which one we are; at some point we all get stretched too far and snap.
We yell. We shout. We scream. We cry. We say things we don’t mean.
And often enough we do this to the people we love the most.
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Perhaps that’s why Jesus chose Peter to be the first, “fisher of men.” He’s a model for all of us to follow, particularly at home.
As a fisherman, Peter had to be patient.
Sometimes he would go fishing all night, never catching a single fish. But did he throw his fishing pole into the water, yelling something like, “Darn you fish!”
No.
Did he change jobs after a fruitless night of fishing? No.
Did he give up? No.
He was patient.
Day after day, Peter lowered his line into the water and waited for the fish to bite.
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He would need that same type of patience – the patience of a fishermen – to bring people to Jesus, because people can be incredibly slow to change – and slow to believe.
If, for example, people didn’t accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior after the first time Peter preached and he snapped at them for being slow to believe, then they’d all run away!
Nobody likes a grouchy, fire and brimstone style preacher.
Peter will change people’s hearts slowly over time, luring them with kindness, with patience, and by gradually teaching them the truth by his words and actions.
Conversion is often a slow process.
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Like Peter, we’re called to bring people closer to Jesus – not further away. But that requires a fisherman’s patience.
Think about our classmates, our colleagues, our friends, our siblings, our parents, our spouse, our children, the list goes on.
How can we stretch ourselves a little more and bring them closer to Jesus?
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Maybe that means being a better listener, holding my tongue, giving someone else the last word, the benefit of the doubt, a second chance, or not picking at their faults.
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Whether we’re like this long rubber band or this short one, we can all stretch ourselves a little more with God’s grace, because the Lord is just as patient with us, for he desires to draw all people to himself.