So yesterday as soon as Ashlyn and Anthony got home from school we loaded up in the van and headed to Inverness, Florida, to this little campground on the edge of the Withlacoochee River where my mom and dad are camping for the next week or so. Just to give you a little background on this camp ground, I spent close to 4 weeks every year of my summer vacation at this camp as an adolescent; so taking my kids up there now to experience this is just incredible for me. This year is extra special because this is the year that my dad and I turned the captaining of the boat over to Anthony my 7 year old son. I know some of you are saying "but he is only 7, how can he become a captain of a boat?" Well our fishing vessel is only 14 feet long with a trolling motor on the front and a 4 HP Johnson on the back. I think he can manage.
So the ladies of our family did their traditional venture into town to shop, as the men (me, my dad, and Anthony) prepared for our maiden voyage with Anthony at the helm. After launching the boat and dad navigating it through the canal to the river, we realized this may not be the day for the young Captain Anthony to begin. You see as we approached the mouth of the river we noticed it had far less water than normal, as a matter of fact, the first thing captain dad did was tell me, the first mate, to get out of the boat, and pull us over to the new sand bar that was now where a portion of the river was once located. So after much pulling and paddling we made it to our favorite fishing hole, which did have plenty of water. This is where the fun begins.
Anthony has never been much of a fisherman until now. In fact, in the past when he went out with us, he was ready to go back within 30 minutes. But, yesterday was different. We anchored and began to get the poles ready. I got a nice juicy wiggler and placed it on Anthony's hook. Then I threw it out for him. After what seemed like just moments Anthony was yelling "I got one, I got one" and sure enough he had. I spent the next few hours baiting hooks and taking the fish off of the lines, but really not fishing. That is when it hit me. -I wasn’t fishing!- I was teaching my son how to fish. And as we were returning to shore I began to wonder why Jesus used so many fish metaphors. And here is what I came up with.
Jesus said on more than one occasion that He wanted to make people fishers of men and for many years I just thought it was part of Him being culturally relevant which it was. But I think it was more than that, so track with me here.
1. Jesus knew the thrill of landing the big one.
I think as Jesus was growing up that he probably experienced the thrill of hooking or netting his first big catch. He knew the adrenaline rush! He felt a surge through His body as the fish hit the lure, and he had the sense of accomplishment when the fish was landed. And I think he wants us to experience that same adrenaline rush when we share Christ with someone and see the light of their soul come on for the first time. It really is a thrill like nothing else in the world.
2. Jesus knew that fishing took patience.
Jesus knew that when fishing in the natural world or fishing in the spiritual world it was going to take patience. That is why some people never learn to fish in the natural world because they say “it takes too long and sometime I sit outside all day and catch nothing." I have experienced this and so did the disciples, but Jesus told them to just keep fishing and He tells us the same thing. It sometimes takes years to bring someone along this spiritual journey to where they accept Christ, but that is what we have been called to do. Jesus may be telling you today that you are fishing in the wrong place and you need to cast your nets on the other side of the boat for a big catch. Just don’t stop fishing.
3. Jesus taught them how to fish, He did not fish for them.
This was a big one for me yesterday, because I really wanted to fish. When I saw Anthony’s cork go down and I would yell “you got one” and he would just yank it in and miss it, I really wanted to say “move over and let me do it,” but I had to let him learn. I am sure that when Jesus looks at all of us who claim to be Christ Followers, He has seen us miss a few. But just as I did with Anthony yesterday, when He missed one, I think Jesus does the same with us. He says “hey you are learning, just keep it up!” And along the way He wants to give us fish tips to help us with our fishing, we just need to be listening.
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