I am Andrew a fisherman from Galilee. I am the brother of Simon Peter disciple of the great Jesus Christ savior of the whole world. Christ found me as I was casting my net with my brother and he told us to follow him and he would make us “fishers of men”. My entire life I had not been of tremendous value to the religious portion of my society. I was not one of the chosen few who was allowed to continue in the ways of the Rabbis. No, I took on the family business and became a fisherman. In a world that would consider me worthless Jesus saw me as someone worth turning into a disciple. There was something about him that I knew I couldn’t resist when he called me. It was as if I knew I were going to be a part of something greater from the moment he said my name. I had no idea what fishing for men meant but the Christ promised he would make me one and now I am bringing people to the gospel changing truth which is through Jesus. This concept of being a disciple was not new to me since I had spent time following John the Baptist who always told us about one greater than he coming who would save the Jews. I was used to following John’s teaching, though his ways of life were rather eccentric, and it caused me to have an expectancy for the Christ to come. Once he did come it was like my expectant heart was ready for the truth of the gospel and I was open to hear more. When John the Baptist pointed out the Jesus Christ was the savior of the world I instantly called my brother to come and join me to follow him because I didn’t want him to miss out on the opportunity of following the messiah. Some people even credit me with being the first one to use the name Messiah for Jesus Christ. When I think about who Jesus discipled me I think about how Jesus took me from a life that would have been seen as worthless and used me to change the world. He spent time with me and was willing to choose me as a disciple even though I wasn’t a religious person. But because he took time and cared I was willing to change my whole life to follow him. Another aspect which was important was Jesus was willing to spend time with me in a more intimate setting with less people. Jesus simply didn’t preach to me along with the thousands who followed but he chose me to be one of the twelve. He was even willing to bring me into a smaller group with James, John, and Peter when we were on the side of the Mount of Olives outside the city. In that setting, he proved to us that he was didn’t consider our questions and disbelief as a negative but rather he encouraged us and answered the questions which plagued our minds. Throughout my entire life I had not felt an atmosphere created with someone in which I didn’t feel judged not only for my lifestyle but for my questioning. Jesus made me feel comfortable to share with him my questions and he cared about me. Even when I doubted Jesus when I brought told him that all we had were a few fish, he was willing to show me that he is sovereign. Thus, my experience as a disciple of Christ was amazing because not only did he choose me when I was seen as insignificant in the world, but he was willing to have more intimate conversations with me and address my doubt and misunderstanding without judging me. Because of the great impact that Jesus had upon my life through our friendship and discipleship, I have been accredited with being the disciple who is known for always bringing someone to Jesus. Jesus not only trained me how to follow him but then gave me motivation to go out and make more followers of Christ. I guess this is what it means to be a fisher of men, to realize that life without Christ is meaningless and through relationship we become those who want to bring more people into that meaning. Even after his death, Christ showed used us to bring more people into relationship with him and proved himself to us. Christ never forgot about us even though he wasn’t walking with us physically like he did previously but he sent us the Holy Spirit. Thus, a good disciple maker never abandons those he disciples. This relationship has changed my life because of the realness of Christ and how he loved me regardless of my faults.
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