by C.W. Cushman Rural Shepherds Network Founder and President
Back in 2002, I had been at a local ministerial association meeting in our area. That day, our lunch meeting had been very special. It was one of those wonderful times, when as we prayed together at the end of the meeting, God visited us in a really special way. We were really stirred in our hearts as we prayed together for revival in our land. Each of us as pastors had key things that we led out with in prayer, and there was a lot of calling out to the Lord, saying, “Please pour out your Spirit and bring revival!”
It says, “And as He walked by the sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then in verse 19, it says, “When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets.”
I was struck by the fact that two of the brothers were mending their nets, while the others had been out casting their net. I realized this is a perfect picture of a great truth! Sometimes in ministry we are so pre-occupied with how we are going to cast our net out and bring in the harvest, that we can completely forget that we need to commit just as much time to preparing and keeping our nets in proper repair. Otherwise, we may be casting our nets, but the harvest will be just slipping away through the gaping holes in the net!
This account in Mark, is also found in Matthew 4:18-21, as well as Luke 5, where it brings in the fact that they had also been washing their nets.
The thought of the importance of mending, just kept stirring in my heart. With further study, I discovered that there is only one other place in the New Testament where that word is used, and could be translated that way. It is found in Ephesians 4:12, where it is translated equipping in many translations.