One of the things Cheryl and I love to do together is bass fish. We went this morning at 5:45 AM and as we were headed toward this beautiful new lake I told Cheryl we were going to have a devotional on fishing as we drove our truck and boat to the fishing hole. The following is a short synopsis of that fishing devotional.
Jesus chose fishermen as his first four disciples. “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets: and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him” (Matthew 4:18-22)
I started bass fishing with my dad when I was about 10 years old and I’ve learned a lot from fishing that applies to daily life and especially if you are in the people or relational marketing business. An avid bass fisherman always understands that he is just one cast away from catching a lunker bass, regardless of how many non-productive casts have been made in the past several hours. There is a story in John 21 where Jesus appeared to his disciples who had been fishing all night and he asked them if they had caught anything. They answered that they had not caught even one fish. He told them to cast on the other side of the boat and when they did they caught so many fish that they had to get help to haul them all in. These disciples had been fishing all night and were obviously discouraged. What I want you to see here is that they were closer to success than they ever imagined. They were just a few feet and one cast away from a boatload of abundance. In our walk with the Lord there have been times that looked very bleak but we have always maintained that fisherman’s faith that we were just one more cast away from a miracle. We just had to keep on casting.
We started bass fishing today in this new South Georgia lake using a green plastic worm. After an hour of no action I switched to a red worm and the first cast I made with that red worm I caught a big bass. We caught several nice bass after that with that red worm. I have learned over the years that bass are very particular about what they will hit. Sometime the smallest change, a different color, a different presentation, a different type lure, or a different location, is all you need to be successful. It is the same way with fishing for men. If you are not having any success fishing for men try changing your lure, change your presentation, or try a different spot on the lake. Ask the Lord where you should be fishing. Cheryl and I would have never imagined that we would be fishing in Lake Mona-Vie when we entered the ministry 27 years ago, but here we are. Jesus is the best fisherman ever and he knows where you need to be fishing. His desire is for you to have a boatload of fish.
JUST KEEP CASTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,…” (Ephesians 3:2)
