One day, Jesus was sitting by the lake with many people and told them a story. The people, young and old, listened to him intently, because Jesus loved to tell stories called parables. These helped people to better understand God’s message.
Jesus said: “The kingdom of heaven that I am telling you about is like a great net that the fishermen throw into the sea. When the net is in the water, they catch many, many fish with it. Some fish are small, others are big, and some are colorful.”
The fishermen pull the net with all the fish ashore. Then they sit down, take a close look at the many fish and sort them. They put the good fish in baskets, because they can take them home with them and make a delicious meal out of them. But the fish that are not good, they throw back into the sea.”
Jesus looked lovingly at the people and said: “In the end of time it will be so. The angels will come to separate the people, as fishermen sort the fish. The good will be with God, and the bad will be sent away.”
Thus, Jesus explained to people that it is important to do good and to love God. For God sees who is good in his heart.
Message of history
God sees each and every one of us, and He wants us to follow Him and do good. In this way we come closer to his heart.
Bible passage
The parable of the net full of fish is found in Matthew 13:47-50:
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, gathering together fish of every kind. When it was full, they dragged it to the shore, sat down and gathered the good ones into vessels, and threw away the bad ones. This is how it will be at the end of the age: the angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
