Let's Go Fishing

By Gobel Brockman


I have a friend named Leon. He used to make me really mad. We would go fishing together. We would be on the same lake, using the same bait, fishing at the same depth, standing about 10 feet away from each other. I would be doing just that - standing. He would be catching a fish, putting it in the basket, re-baiting his hook, and catch another one before I even got a nibble. I credited it to his rural Kentucky upbringing. He credited it to the fact that I didn't know what I was doing. I think we were both right.

Every time we went I always thought of the words of Jesus to His disciples: "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." I thought about it because it reminded me that different fish require different tactics. To catch a small-mouth bass, you skim the surface. For bluegill or crappie (pronounced 'croppie' for those who think I was describing my fishing abilities), you go a few feet farther down. For catfish, you go to the bottom & prepare to be patient. Talking to people about Jesus is the same way. There are some who are almost there. God has been dealing with their hearts, and they're ready to respond. There are others who haven't turned away from the idea, they just need a little more work. Then there are some that (seemingly) just don't want anything to do with it. They're the ones that will be chased away if you're too aggressive.

I'm mentioning this simply because all of us as Christians have family and friends who we're praying for. And as things continue to get worse in the world, people are searching for answers. We as Christians HAVE the answer. It's not church, religion, or doing more good things than bad. It's about Jesus and what He did on the cross. We want people to know that. But we need to let the One Who called us to be fishers of men teach us how to fish. When I wasn't in church, someone getting in my face slapping me with Bible verses didn't work. I've seen a lot of that over the years. We need to realize that WE can't do the Holy Spirit's work for Him. We're called to be faithful and available to be used by Him. Let us pray for wisdom in how to be as effective as we can to reach as many as we can.

And I look forward to fishing with Leon again sometime. I really miss it. The standing did me good.