toiled at fishing without any reward. The morning has dawned. Wearied
and with the marks of labor on their persons and their garments, their
empty boats drawn upon the beach, they are mending their nets which have
been torn by the waves, and cleansing them from the sand which has been
gathered instead of the fishes they sought.

[Illustration: JACOB'S WELL _From Photograph_ Page 91]

Meanwhile a multitude of people in the neighboring field is listening to
the Master. The fishermen may hear His voice, but their nets must not be
left in disorder; they must be put in readiness for another trial,
which, though they know it not, will be most abundantly rewarded.

They cannot go to Him, but He comes to them with a greeting and a
command, "Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men."

The time had come for Him to gather His first disciples more closely
about Him for instruction and preparation and service in His kingdom.
They had seen proofs of His Messiahship. They had been with Him long
enough to know something of His work and teachings, and what was
included in His call to follow Him. They understood it meant leaving
their boats and nets by which they had earned their daily bread, and
even leaving their homes, and going with Him wherever He went, trusting
Him for support, ready to do anything to which all this would lead them.
Their belief in Him, and their love for Him, were enough to secure
immediate obedience to the new command.

In their faithfulness in their duties in their former life, in the
carefulness in mending their nets, in the patience and perseverance
during the nights of fruitless toil, in their thoughtfulness, skill and