” …..FOLLOW ME, AND I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN.” – Matt: 4: 19.
“Poachers will be shot” was the latest warning issued by our Prime Minister Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe, to Indian fishermen engaged in illegal fishing in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. This and a plethora of other such warnings have fallen on deaf ears, and Indian fishermen continue to make incursions, and carry on poaching in Sri Lankan waters, much to the consternation of our local fishermen. When Jesus said “I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN”, and commanded His disciples to go into all the world, He did not constrain nor restrict them to any particular region or territory. Because just as there are plenty of fish in the sea, so are there many millions of un-saved, and un-churched souls in the world! But sadly some of those fishing for souls too are like these Indian fishermen, poaching in other people’s territories or ministries and Churches. ‘Sheep stealing’ is a common practice and has been a perennial pain- in-the-neck problem to those engaged in the ministry of saving souls; It has been the cause of so much of disunity and rifts in the body of Christ, and needs to be stamped-out forthwith, without any further ado, if there is to be good-will and unsullied communion between churches and its members.
Let us all work for the common good of God’s Kingdom, and not that of ‘Empire building’. So Happy fishing, my fellow-fishers, just bear in mind our PM’s warning – “POACHERS WILL BE SHOT!”.
God bless you.
– Pastor Dayalan Sanders.
