Henry David Thoreau is attributed with saying,
“Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.”
This quote reminds me of something I’ve been “chewing on” throughout the day. It has to do with Peter and Judas. Both of these poor chaps betrayed Jesus miserably. However, the way they responded to their horrible misjudgment made all the difference. One (Judas) gave in to despair and gave up, ending his life tragically. The other, Peter, went fishing.
In his darkest hour he went back to the beginning \ back when he first met Jesus \ back to those simpler days when he was a fisherman. He must have remembered that day that he was wrapping up from a long fruitless (or better yet – fishless) night of fishing went Jesus walked up and told him to throw out the nets one more time \ and miracle of miracles he pulled up his nets full of fish!
Judas could see not future because he forgot the past. Peter found a new future when he went back to a past (and place) where he and Jesus were close.
I’ve been to the Sea of Galilee twice, it’s a special place. Matter of fact, it’s my favorite place when traveling to the Holy Land. I’ve skipped rocks on the waters, walked along the coastline, spent time just sitting and looking out over the water and coastline and picturing Jesus and his disciples making their way along the winding paths in and through the little villages that dotted the coastline of the Sea of Galilee. I remember one day while staying at the Sea of Galilee that I woke very sick at my stomach. The rest of the group went on the tour for that day but I stayed behind. By midmorning, through not prepared to eat anything, I was feeling better and decided to go for a walk along the shore. I had a full day to myself. It was a special day, just Jesus and me. What I was doing was “fishing.”
Fishing is going back to that place where you and God are close. It may be puttering around in the garden or driving alone the back roads, or simply meditating under the morning sun with a cup of coffee and an open Bible on your lap or some other activities (it might even be really fishing). But the point is, sometimes it is important to just get away from it all \ just you and Jesus. It’s there that you get recharged, refreshed, forgiven, restored, and redirected.
Maybe you’ve already lined up another busy Saturday for tomorrow; why not consider changing plans for tomorrow? Why not plan on doing a little “fishing”? You’ll be better for it.
Well, enough for tonight. I’ll just wrap up by saying “Atta-girl” to Joyce Lang and her team. I attended the opening night of the Women’s Ministry’s annual “Joy Conference” and it was great. There was a large group of ladies (and some husbands \ we were invited for Friday) and the ministry and fellowship were great.
And to Aubrey and Larry \ two prayer partners that call me every Friday \ you gentlemen continue to minister to me and bless me so much with your prayers and concern \ I am forever indebted to you – THANK YOU SO VERY, VERY, VERY MUCH.
And one more thing…what a joy to see Linda Jurek at the Joy Conference! Welcome home Lin
da 🙂
God night everyone…remember, make plans to do a little “fishing” tomorrow,
dlk
Picture of the day…
- I don’t know if this qualifies for “fishing” but as long as there are cheese burgers like this life can’t be all bad. This picture was taken in some little dinner in Georgia during one of Sonja and my trips. Traveling is one of the ways we get away from it all in order to recoup and refresh ourselves.
The ONE THING 