HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div
“And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19
A fisher of men! This is what I would gladly be — one who wins souls for Jesus! But have I counted the cost?
It involves sacrifice. Andrew and Peter, James and John, must leave their kindred and their trade. Just so, from my business, my books, my fireside, my tender human loves — I need to be prepared to go if I am to capture men and women for my Lord. The heavenly task must become my chief concern — my ruling passion. It must govern me, occupy me, absorb me, to the subordination — ay, sometimes to the exclusion — of all other claims.
It involves fellowship. I shall never take prisoner the hearts that are round about me unless I am maintaining a close personal fellowship with my Lord. I must renew my strength through continual contact with Him. I must walk with Him and talk with Him as His first disciples did. Then, invested with powers not my own, I can go and gain my erring brother — but not otherwise. Their faces shine, their words win, their lives tell — theirs only — who come down from the Mount!
It involves pain. This labour of fishing for men, there is the sorest anguish in it. Many a time I shall be disappointed. Many a time I shall have to endure long delays. Many a time I shall be saddened by what I see and hear. “Oh, I am sick with the sins of these men! how can God bear it?”
Yes, let me count the cost; let me reckon deliberately the price I shall have to pay. But then let me throw my weakness on the strength of God!
THE MYSTICAL COURT 