The Joys of Fishing

I love the great outdoors, especially in the warmer weather. Which is also why summer can't get here soon enough. One of the many passions I have that pertains to being outdoors is fishing. I'll admit I'm not as hardcore as other fishermen. I won't fish in the freezing cold or winter (unless it's an ice fishing trip), I won't get up at the crack of dawn to get the early biters, and I generally won't fish in areas that lack action or make for very uncomfortable fishing. But aside from all that, fishing is wonderful.

An old English proverb goes "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat for life." What joy do I get from it? The new lures ready for action and wanting to see how they do. Using lures that have served me well and hope they continue to do so. Being the hunter by taking a vast body of water and trying to find the lunkers. The adrenaline rush of a fish taking the bait and you have to idea what species it is or how big it actually is. The sight of the hooked fish flying out of the water or the violent strike of a hungry one as it nails the top water lure. Being out in nature, calm, quiet, peaceful.

Every other year we go to Wisconsin to visit family, but it could also be considered a week long fishing trip. One summer as I was on the lake, I could hear the loons calling in the distance. I'd see the occasional splash of a feeding fish. I had a monarch butterfly land on my leg. A family of American Bald Eagles flew overhead. All this while reeling in a two foot Northern Pike.

Some opposed to fishing claim it's cruel. Studies have been done and proven that fish do not have the neuro-psychological capacity to feel pain. That hook in their mouth, it more of an annoyance than anything else. And what about those who claim animals are not for eating? Genesis 9:1-2 says "The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything." 

I haven't yet mastered this art, but I am in no way terrible either. However, this is not the only type of fishing I do. For all of us who believe in Jesus Christ, we also all are meant to be fishers. Not of fish, but of men. The Lord made all creation, including every single person who came before, who is, and who is yet to come. It is His desire that all men be saved. For many, they cannot enter into this gift unless they are "caught" by a fisher of men. "And He said to them, 'Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.'"~Matthew 4:19

Nowhere does the Bible say you have to be a master or even good at it. Because even a bad fisherman get's lucky. Just as the joy of catching a fish is great in a child's eyes, even greater is the joy for a person who repents of his sins and comes to Christ.