I'm not sure what you were doing after GCC's worship services ended last night, but at 10:00 PM I was on the St. Joe River (somewhere between the city of South Bend and Lake Michigan, and no, according to the Fisherman's Code I'm never going to tell you exactly where the best fishing holes are located). I knew I didn't need to engage cerebral tasks until I showed up for GCC's Sunday services at our Elkhart campus, so I launched into the adventure at hand, fishing for Walleye.
Spending a few hours trying to "boat" a few fish from the chaotic waters of the dark and flooding river increased my angling band-width. I learned to adapt and change. I learned to adjust my presentation as conditions warranted.
Water temperature (35 degrees), air temperature (23 degrees), wind direction, flow rates, turbidity, currents, color, Moon phases and water levels impact the fish, which means those factors impact the fishing as well. Your conditions influence your outcomes, so I followed the lead of my guide, Scott Crouch. He knows the river. He knows Walleye and he was willing to share what he knew.
Fishing for fish is challenging enough; doing what Jesus said, and fishing for men, can be even more so. We can hardly imagine all the factors influencing a person's willingness to receive even the most loving and well-reasoned presentations of the Gospel. But once we understand the circumstances people are facing we can adapt to those conditions and by all means, save some.
We can emulate Paul, who said to the Corinthian Christians, "I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it."
It's all about helping people out of the flood and into the boat.
Genesis 7:5 - Noah was six hundred years old when he went into the boat to escape the flood, and he did everything the LORD had told him to do.
Luke 5:1-11"And it happened that the crowd pressed on Him to hear the word of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret. And He saw two boats standing by the lake. But the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. And He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, He asked him to thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people out of the boat. And as He stopped speaking, He said to Simon, Launch out into the deep and let your nets down for a haul. And answering, Simon said to Him, Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing. Yet at Your word I will let down the net. And doing this, they enclosed a great multitude of fish. And their net was being torn. And they signaled the partners, those in the other boat, to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they were sinking.
And seeing, Simon Peter fell at the knees of Jesus, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord. For he and all who were with him were astonished at the haul of fish which they had taken, and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not fear, from now on you will be taking men alive. And bringing their boats onto land, forsaking all things, they followed Him."
From this passage it seems to me you can have all the gear and knowledge but the Lord brings the fish!
Posted by: James | February 23, 2011 at 03:21 PM