Follow Me
…”And I will make you fishers of men.”
In Revelation we read that Satan was cast out of heaven and thrown down to the Earth. Immediately heaven became a safe place while earth became a war zone.
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth. Revelation 12:9
All the people of the Earth have been affected by this invasion. Earth is no longer a safe place. Wars, conflict, crime, death, pain, and mistrust are all things that we now deal with constantly while living on the earth. No one is exempt. Basically, everyone is plunged into this battle just by being born.
What are we going to do about it? God in heaven has a strategic plan that He wants us to embrace. This plan was vaguely defined, immediately after the fall, in the promise of a certain Seed that will come from the woman.
This promised “seed of the woman” has the power to crush the head of the serpent, to destroy Satan and all his works. In this concept of a seed, we find our first clue of how to effectively battle against this invasion.
Every person, animal, tree, and plant that exists today has a built-in ability to reproduce itself and can be traced back to creation. For example, an apple seed has the potential for a new apple tree full of fruit with seeds inside the fruit. Those seeds in turn hold the potential for more trees and fruit. This is the mystery and the power of the seed. Now we can see that this “seed of the woman” is something that will grow in a similar way that the generation of apple trees have grown and covered the entire earth with apple trees since the creation.
He who goes forth weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him. Psalm 126:6
This promised seed was Jesus. He came in the flesh to show us the Father. Jesus said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Another way of saying this would be “if you follow my example, you will be able to coach others.” If we fish for people the way He fished for people, we will be successful fishermen. If we follow His strategic plan, we will be successful in discipleship.
Here is an overview of the strategic plan that Jesus used. First, He chose 12 men. Out of these 12, He formed a tight group. He was the teacher; they were the students. Jesus would teach a lesson, then He would go out and demonstrate it.
This concept of a teacher and students is the most powerful weapon against the destruction of the devil. Students of godly teachers eventually graduate and become teachers themselves.
Jesus told his students in John 14:12 that they will do the same works that He did and even greater works. This is evident in His disciples. They copied His life. Remember the seed. Just as an apple seed will produce a copy of itself, so Jesus did through His students.
Just before His ascension, Jesus told his disciples,
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Jesus asked them to copy what He showed them. The whole world could not be reached by 12 men. But if those 12 men each discipled 6 new people in 4 years, then there would have been 72 new ones who could each disciple 6 more in the next 4 years, bringing the total to 432. If this cycle would have continued the total number of people by the end of 50 years would exceed our current world population. So just as a single apple seed can fill the whole world with trees, if given enough of time, in the same way one man can ignite a pattern by discipling a group of people who in turn disciple others. If every person does their share of the load the work will get done. Many hands make light work.
