From now on you will be catching men alive.’ So they brought the boats back to land, and abandoned everything and followed him.” (Luke 5:4-11) In view of Jesus’ invitation, can we now ignore this more important reason for appreciating the value of our perceptive powers and, looking to God’s Word to train these, advancing to maturity?

17. What, then, is one of the first requirements in fulfilling our commission as ministers, and why is this so?

¹⁷ True Christians today must likewise be fishers of men. The way of the ministry is clearly marked out as a vocation for all who come to life. It is a full-time vocation, whether all or only part of the Christian’s day is spent in preaching from door to door, and it requires all of one’s powers and abilities to make it a success. Training our perceptive powers is also a full-time matter and one of the first requirements in fulfilling our commission as ministers. If we appreciate this fact we will practice it as diligently as though our life depended on it, because it does.

Training Your Perceptive Powers

1. To what was the profession of the Christian ministry likened in prophecy, and how did Jesus make clear its meaning?

THOSE who follow the profession of true Christian ministers today were likened in prophecy to fishers and hunters. Foretelling a time when God would perform a work of reconciliation, Jeremiah recorded: “‘Here I am sending for many fishers,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘and they will certainly fish for them; and afterward I shall send for many hunters, and they will certainly hunt for them from upon every mountain and from upon every hill and out of the clefts of the crags.’” (Jer. 16:16) The meaning of this prophecy was made clear when Jesus told his disciples: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”—Matt. 4:19.

2. Why is the training of our perceptive powers important to the ministry, and how is this illustrated?

² If we are to qualify as expert hunters and fishers of men, we must be followers and imitators of Christ Jesus. We must first of all acquire an accurate knowledge of God’s Word as Jesus did, grasping its full significance so that we are able to discern clearly the outcome of our course of action. This means applying ourselves seriously to the training of our perceptive powers for use in the ministry. Coming out of the world, we are novices in the art, tenderfeet. Anyone can carry a gun into the woods, but that does not make him a hunter. The skilled hunter is intent on his objective, with eyes and ears alert, watching for any sign of quarry. He knows that otherwise he might go hungry or, worse, stumble into a lion’s den or step on a deadly snake. The successful hunter learns to recognize every sign of game, he learns to interpret these signs properly in their setting and he learns to use these signs to hunt down his quarry. Similarly, as the hunter’s skill is perfected in actual experience, and just as Jesus learned obedience in suffering, training our powers of discernment as Christian ministers is not the mere grasping of theoretical ideas. (Heb. 5:8) We must make an application in the field ministry of the choice wisdom gained from on high if it is to be practical and if it is to come to full fruition. Only in this way can it work to our own salvation and to the saving of those sought out.—1 Tim. 4:16.

3. Why are discipline and a close schedule important in training our perceptive powers?

³ Such a course cannot be followed without considerable effort. “True, no discipline seems for the present to be joyous, but grievous; yet afterward to those who have been trained by it it yields peaceable fruit, namely, righteousness.” (Heb. 12:11) Righteousness is a course of right doing and if we are to take hold of it we must have our perceptive powers trained by proper discipline. This means closely scheduling ourselves to avoid developing lazy habits or drifting off into indifference. Searching for the hidden treasures of God’s Word and using the knowledge most effectively in the field demand an alert and observing mind. What results do you suppose the hunter would get who sits dreamily in the shade, his gun propped against a tree?

4. In what two ways particularly can our powers of discernment be trained?

⁴ The proverb says: “A wise person will listen and take in more instruction, and a man of understanding is the one who acquires skillful direction.” (Prov. 1:5) Since taking in accurate knowledge and getting the sense of it is one of the first requirements in training our powers of discernment, we must seriously apply ourselves to the art. Let us consider two ways this can be done: by study and by observation. The experienced hunter realizes that knowing what to look for is basic knowledge in his profession. Therefore he has learned to recognize and distinguish the different kinds of animal tracks. He comes to know the feeding habits of various kinds of game, the meaning of all the different sounds he hears and whether they are of immediate concern in realizing his objective. With this equipment he is prepared to track down his prey and stalk it. Only the novice or tenderfoot just walks around until the game jumps out in front of him.

5. Why can we not be satisfied with a mere surface view of what we study in the Bible?

⁵ Our study of the Bible must follow the same pattern. Since we must have accurate knowledge ourselves if we are to be most efficient in our commission as hunters