LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Prophetic Actions
Matthew 4:18-22.
Peter and John were called by the Lord to follow Him while they were working as fishermen. They probably knew the Lord from before, but they did not yet follow Him. They still kept their secular jobs. Peter cast the net into the sea, and John mended the nets.
However, the action they developed at that moment when the Lord called them definitely was prophetic. The spiritual ministry that both developed later on would be related to these actions. The spiritual followed the course of the material.
This is also the case with all of Christ's servants. What they did before knowing the Lord will influence their spiritual service, since they were called from their mother's womb (Gal. 1:15). All that was a valuable preparation; however, not everything will be useful. Some things will be preserved; others will be taken away. Which will be preserved and which will be taken away? We do not know. Only the Holy Spirit knows, and He decides what to keep and what to take away.
By observing the lives of these two apostles we can see some things that were kept and others that were taken away.
Peter had a lot of initiative and executive spirit. However, time after time, he was defeated in that. Even as a fisherman, once his initiative did not help, when he suggested to the Lord what He should not do (Luke 5:1-9). Then, on several other occasions, he took the initiative with the Lord, but it did not serve him; for example, in the episodes of the announcement of the cross, of the mount of transfiguration, of the statue, of the denial, in the final conversation by the sea.
But what do we see later? That in the great milestones of his spiritual life, it was the Lord who took the initiative. Thus, for example, his two great messages in the book of Acts were preceded by sovereign interventions of the Lord. So it was also in the house of Cornelius. The Lord's prophetic words to Peter at the end of John's Gospel point to this very thing. He tells him that when he was young he would go where he wanted to go, but when he was old, he would stretch out his hands, and another would take him where he did not want to go. Peter would no longer have initiatives to take (Jn. 21:18).
For his part, John was called to restore the testimony of God. But how could the "son of thunder" John, the violent one, the one who forbade others to cast out demons in the name of Jesus (Luke 9:49-50), the one who wanted to make fire come down from heaven on a village of Samaritans (Luke 9:52-56)?
A restorer has to be meticulous, careful, so that he does not spoil the work he is restoring. John was used as a mender, but in order to be a mender, his violent character had to be transformed first. Finally, John became a gentle, loving and humble man.
Thus, the activities we engage in before we meet the Lord are often prophetic of our service to the Lord. Many of them -and the skills derived from them- will be used later, but not without the cross.