“Whose Heart The Lord Opened”

Acts 16

9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.

10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.

11 Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis;

12 And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days.

13 And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.

14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: WHOSE HEART THE LORD OPENED, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

—————

I have to keep reminding myself that the heart of man is a closed thing that only God Himself can open. When the time is right, as here in our text, God will go to great lengths to get the Gospel to those whose heart He is preparing. And though the path may be unclear at times and the journey long and arduous, we can take heart.

Why?

Because as long as there are those who remain constantly on call and ready to be dispatched by God at a moment’s notice like Paul, we CAN take heart that salvation will be proclaimed and people will respond. The when, where and how of it all is not up to us. We can’t force the moment or manufacture it.

Our responsibility, our primary responsibility, is to be prepared vessels, soldiers, emissaries willing to do our Master’s bidding at any given moment and in any given place. We must remember: It’s always open season for this kind of fishing.

—————

In all open candidness, I’m no great soul-winner. I’m not even sure I’m average. Of course that’s all dependent upon which rubric I choose to measure myself by. But thankfully, there are a handful of people that I helped come to Christ for salvation. And as Christ told Peter He would make him a fisher of men, so too will He do for us.

Matther 4

18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, AND I WILL (emphasis mine) make you fishers of men.

20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

—————

I’ve been fishing several times over my life. Sadly, I’ve killed more fish trying to catch them than I actually caught. I hope there’s a Fish Heaven. So when I realize I’m tasked with fishing for men, based upon my present angling abilities … I don’t hold out too much hope for me.

But maybe that’s not the point — abilities. Rather, maybe, the point is Christ’s ability to make us fishers of men. Interestingly though, as I reflect upon the Scriptures, it seems like the biggest loads of fish these fishermen caught … Jesus had a hand in. They just had to cast their net out into the waters.

Luke 5

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

6 And WHEN (my emphasis) they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:

10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.

11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

—————

It may all come down to something like this:

*Admitting that we, in and of ourselves, have no innate abilities or talents that will make us good fishers of men.

What I mean by that is this:

It’s easy to be involved in Evangelist Crusades, or witness as a part of our Christian job or Christian calling. That’s commendable, yes. But … it’s when we’re in the trenches, all by our lonesome, that we can honestly and accurately gage what kind of fisher of men we are.

Just like … when it’s just you, your pole, the bait and that one fish that keeps stealing your worm.

If I were to give an honest assessment of my fishing abilities, I suck at it. I really have no heart for it. That’s the truth. But also the truth is … there’s no reason I shouldn’t be at least adequate at fishing. My grandparents had a cottage right on the water’s edge of a lake. We had a canoe. I had more gear than I even knew what to do with. And over the many years I spent at the cottage I fished a fair amount … BUT, I think the fish could sense my lack of desire and just decided I wasn’t worth wasting their time on me. It was so easy for them to get the bait off my hook it wasn’t even any fun for them. In hindsight, all the bubbles on the water were probably all the fish laughing their gills off.

Could it be human fish feel the same way? Perhaps so. If I don’t believe I can catch them, or even want to catch them, why should they bite?

—————

So, to wrap up.

Reading this story again about Lydia put me in mind to take inventory of my true desire to be the fisherman of men that God’s wants me to be.

How about you? Have you taken personal inventory of your true desire to be a fisher of men?

But … rather than trying to wrangle with that dilemma at the moment …

Maybe the best thing we can do is to …

Make sure our tackle box is full and that we at least toss the hook out into the water every now-and-then. I’m thinking that may at least give God a good fighting chance to make us ——

Fishers of men who are snagging the hearts of those the Lord has opened.