Experienced anglers
have well harnessed,
Their skillset of
line control when fishing.
They focus on
managing line slackness,
To catch the trophy
fish they are wishing. 1
Each fish type
requires different tactics.
Whether to use a
line that’s slack or taut,
Is all in knowing
‘fish diagnostics’.
This results are in
bait lost, or fish caught!
Friends, in this
example, do you perceive,
Any spiritual
wisdom that speaks,
Concerning us who
in Jesus believe,
Yet from whose
hearts, trusting faith in Him …leaks?
Perhaps all of us
believers in Christ.
Either have been, now
are, or will be prodigals,
Unfaithful to Him
at some point in life.
On us all,
unfaithfulness wraps its tentacles.
…But God! His faithfulness to us is so
enduring.
To ‘His own’, His faithfulness is always
abounding,
Even when our trust
weakens, and to Him we don’t cling.
Yet wisdom from
fish anglers to me is expounding!
While some fish
nibble, or grab, then drop the bait,
Angler’s first desire is that they be
hooked!
Yet hooking fish
doesn’t mean they’ll be on your plate.
Angler’s last desire is that they be
cooked!
Ok! Believers are neither fish nor anglers.
But Jesus did hint
we’d be ‘fishers of men’. 2
If in the future
we will be ‘like angels’, 3
Then right now,
consider us as ‘like fish’. Amen?
'Fish-like' who'll become 'like angles'? Say what??
We well know the
real Fisher of men is The Lord God,
Who, by Grace, drew
us out of our sin rut.
But there’s
something about Him, as Angler, we don’t laud.
As anglers manage
line slackness to catch fish to take home,
Through
skillfulness and patience, they’ll know,
‘That
fish will be mine!’
The Lord knows when
to ‘cut some slack’, or give us
‘rope to roam’. 4
As a wise angler,
He also knows when to…
cut the line! 5
Though in weakness
of our faith, we all will roam,
The Lord knows who
has nibbled, grabbed,
then dropped His love.
To His own, He’s
faithful to draw us back home.
But if you really
aren’t His, you won’t feel His tug.
Are you really His?
Can you feel His tug …or not?
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1 Anglers use specific equipment and skillful
techniques to catch large, trophy-sized fish, including harnessing the touchy
skillset of line control. Some just fish for sport rather than a meal.
2 See: Matthew 4:19 and Mark 1:17
2 See: Matthew 4:19 and Mark 1:17
3 See: Matthew 22:30 and Mark 12:25
4 To ‘cut someone some slack’ means to loosen
a tight restriction, giving someone a less harsh punishment for a crime, or
even allowing someone some leeway in following the rules. (Writing
Explained). It’s Grace.
5 Fishermen cut or break the line when the
sinker/bait/lure are irretrievably lost, for a myriad of reasons, thus losing
their investments of time, resources and
hope. Often, the hook remains in the jaw of the fish that got away!
