Gone Fishing

     This past week I was on vacation at the beach. One of the things I enjoy doing while on vacation is fishing. I am far from a pro so that is why I spend a lot of time fishing and very little time catching. But each year I give it a try. So this year I made my yearly journey to the Walmart at Southport. I am standing in one of their many fishing supplies aisles when an associate turns to me and asks if he could help me. I said, "Sure, I am looking for some hooks." He then inquired what kind of hooks. I gave him a very honest answer, "Cheap ones." He smiled and asked what kind of fish I was wanting to catch. I thought for a moment and again gave him a honest answer, "Live ones." To which he chuckled and begin sharing about the types of hooks. He pointed to one and said it was for flat fish. He pointed to some others and told me they were for fish with bigger teeth. He pointed to some more and told me they were for fish that were in deep water. I honestly thought I was talking to the Bubba Gump of fishing hooks. He went on spewing out his knowledge of hooks for several minutes. I didn't know there was so many hooks or fish. He finished by telling me the size of the hook depended on the size fish I was trying to catch and then he pointed to several sizes and gave the size fish they would catch. I was totally lost. Bubba Hook could tell I was lost so he tried to help me narrow down the type of hooks I was searching for, "Where are you planning to go fishing at? I can show you the hooks that will work for that location." Again, I gave my most honest answer, "In some water." I was being truthful. I didn't know if I was going to be on a pier, in the surf, in the ocean, in the Intercostal Waterway or in one of the many pounds around the area. Bubba Hook started spouting out which hooks went with what type of water and then it was as if he was reading my mind, "Here is some good cheap hooks." I thanked him. He asked if there was anything else I needed and I said bait. Then Bubba Hook became Bubba Bait and started sharing what kind of bait went with what type of fish. After a few minutes of playing bait/fish matchmaker he stopped and said, "Want me to show you where the cheap bait is?" I smile and left with my discount hooks and bait.
     While at the beach I saw all types of fishing. There was some commercial fishermen using their nets to catch all kinds of fish at once. There were fishermen that had certain rods with certain reels with certain fishing line with certain hooks with certain bait to catch one type of fish. There was others that had bait and hooks just to catch certain types of fish. And there was me, the "this is all I got so I hope something bites it" guy. It didn't matter which type of fishermen you were when you caught one it brought happiness. There was the excitement of the fight to reel in the fish no matter the size or type. We all had one goal, to catch fish, but we had many methods to accomplish or to attempt this goal. Some was expensive and some was not. Some was complicated and some was not. Some was easy and some was not. Some worked and some didn't. At the end of the day it didn't matter because you were fishing.

     Seeing all of the different fishing tactics brought me to Matthew 4:19 where Jesus said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Just like there are many different ways to catch a fish there many different ways to catch men for Jesus. The commercial fishermen used nets to catch many fish at one time. Churches do the same thing except we call it VBS or Movie Night or Sunday Morning Worship. There are those who use certain bait and hooks to try to catch a small group of fish. We call that Sunday School, Small Groups, or even church softball. There are those who use that special rod & reel with just the right line and hook to hold their favorite bait to catch that certain fish we call that inviting your friends and family to church. There are fishermen who go to their favorite fishing hole because they know their favorite fish will be there, we call that visitation. Then there is the "I only got one fishing pole with one hook and one kind of bait and I am going to throw it out there to see what bites" fishermen and we call that sharing our testimony with everyone we can.
     At the end of the day it day it doesn't matter which type of fisherman we are or how many different methods we tried. It just matters that we were fishing. That is what Jesus called us to be, fishers of men. So dust off your fishing pole, bait up your hook and go fishing for men.

Parting Thought: After all is said and done, a lot more is said then done.