Hook, Line and Sinker

Photo by: Chandra Brown
 

I took this picture over the Summer while fishing on Town Lake with my daughter. It struck me as funny but also a little sad. I imagined the scene vividly; happy angler on the shore balancing his rod gently tilting it backwards getting ready to cast, then suddenly the pole tugs on his arm as the line gets stuck in the branch just out of eyesight above his head. Realizing his dilemma the smile on his face turns to concern. His arm starts to tire wrestling with the tangled mess. Finally, he succumbs to defeat, flips his hat on the ground in disgust and pulls his knife from his pocket to cut the line. He didn't even get his bait in the water. Not exactly a relaxing day fishing.

I sat on this picture and post for months. I took the photo knowing there was a post behind it but I wasn't ready to write it until last night when I was pillow talking with my daughter. We were discussing Luke 5:1-11. We read the account from her new Pre-teen Bible she specifically asked for so she could know Jesus better.

Jesus uses Simon's boat to teach a lesson from the shore, after He was done speaking he tells Simon to go out into the deep and cast his net. Simon is skeptical because they fished all night and caught nothing but is obedient. The boat overflows and he calls James and John over to help with the bountiful catch because the nets were splitting and the boat was sinking. Simon repents of his unbelief and Jesus uses this event to invite Simon to become His disciple. Simon, James and John were smart, it says, "they left everything and followed."

After we read the account, I asked Alex what did Jesus mean when He said, "..from now on you will fish for people."

Her answer was spot on, she said, "I can explain it in kid terms, Jesus is going to teach them the truth so they can go out and tell others."

I asked her, "What 'truth' would Jesus teach them?"

And this is where I get excited about her answer...she said, "Jesus is going to teach them about Himself."

A parent has never been so proud. I couldn't stop kissing her forehead. That is IT! Jesus wants us all to know the truth about who HE is, why HE came and then tell others. Sadly, this simple truth is lost in this day and age because people don't know who He is. They go fishing in their own way and end up a tangled mess, they are so encumbered with the world they can't even get the bait in the water. They are caught up in the world just like the branch catches the line in the picture.

I like to contemplate what kind of fisher woman I am? Am I caught hook, line and sinker into the world's philosophies or swallowed up in the truth of Jesus and able to share the bounty with others?