Through the Narrow Gate
Title: What Kind of Fish are You Like?
by Deb Nelson
What Kind of Fish are You Like?
Here in Minnesota, the fishing season is going strong. Whenever
I drive by the lake I see people standing on the shore and out in boats
fishing. I’m not really a fisherman myself, but I have been fishing. What
I like the most about it is sitting in the boat, being quiet and enjoying
nature, the scenery, getting some sun and reading a book. Sometimes, when
I’ve lost the bait on my hook, I just throw my line out anyway and sit back
and relax, enjoying what I really came for.
This got me thinking about the different methods of fishing and how they
relate to the temptations each of us have in our lives. I remember watching
my friends fishing off the dock a few years back. My girl friend was getting
a new worm and her hook was hanging over the edge into the water. A bluegill
started trying to bite the hook; there wasn’t even any bait on it! I thought,
what a stupid fish!
I’ve been walleye fishing at night. The person I
was with gave me a quick lesson on the ways of the walleye. They’re a sneaky
fish, and you have to be sneakier than they are. Using a metal leader will
scare them away because they can see it, you don’t use a bobber and fish
off the bottom. They come up to the bait, lure or whatever you’re using
and gently suck it in, the person on the end of the pole can hardly feel
the fish on the hook. The expert fisherman, when they feel that small tug
they suspect is a walleye; they’ll let out some line and let the fish run
with it. The fish is going in the opposite direction of the boat with the
bait in its mouth. They are thinking (leave it to me to guess what a walleye
is thinking!) that they’re getting away with this particular bait. They’re
thinking this is a meal! When they have gone out far enough, the fisherman
tugs at the line, “hooks” the fish and reels them in.
Then there’s the
northern; they’re a frisky fish. I’ve always thought of them as being the
carefree partier's. They seem to just gulp and swallow the bait that goes
by them, and right away, they’re fighting with it. They like action; fast
moving bait is attractive to them. The fisherman has to hook them immediately,
there’s no letting this fish run with the bait; you hook them, fight with
them and reel them in. They’ll panic and dive deep, jump and flip trying
to throw the hook and bait off, they will swim under the boat, wrap themselves
around the anchor rope and anything else not to get caught.
Different fish, environments or seasons call for different bait or lures.
Sometimes, the fisherman doesn’t know what will be attractive to the fish
on any given day, and they try one after another until something works.
This is how temptation is. There’s different bait for different people,
environments, and seasons in our lives. We may see someone falling for a
temptation we would never think of falling for, and like with the bluegill,
we think “what a stupid person to not see the hook in that temptation!”
When we are small, young Christians, we fall for everything, we’re not smart,
mature or strong enough yet to recognize and resist the old “bait” we loved.
Some of us are like northerns, we’re angry, or just looking for fun and
go after the action, the fast moving stuff. Some of us are like walleyes.
I think of the mature Christian as being a walleye, we think we’re being
so careful, not seeing anything (such as a leader). We gently take a nibble,
and then a bite, we run with it a while and we start to think that it’s
a meal, not bait. We’ll get away with it, no one knows and we won’t get
caught. Then, we get hooked!
After some time has gone by, there are
some of us, maybe all of us that know what our particular “hooks” are. These
are the weak areas in us we bite at and get in trouble with. These things
we can‘t do, even though it may be all right for others. For example, some
of us have certain addictions and we cannot even entertain the thought of
tasting that certain something again. While other people do not have our
same addictions and they can indulge, with no problem. We know what our
“hooks” are, and yet, we still go for the bait. That bait still looks attractive
to us, it smells good, sounds good, we know we will get hooked and we bite
anyway. After we bite on these hooks often enough, there are times we can’t
remove the hook; we get in denial about the hook. The size of our hook,
how bad it’s stuck or the type of bait used doesn‘t matter, Jesus is the
only one who can deliver us.
We may think these hooks, bait and temptations come from the enemy, but
some of them come from us. James 1:14 says “But each one is tempted when
he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” This tells me it is our
own desires of the flesh that get us. I’m not saying that Satan does not
tempt us, he does, he tempted Jesus in the desert. What I’m saying is we
are the culprits who make it hard for ourselves at times. This verse also
points out it’s not just some of us, but Each One of us is tempted. We
are not alone.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we
are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our
time of need.” Hebrews 4:15-16
Jesus is always there for us and He understands. He’s there when we have
hooks we can’t remove, when we’re in denial, and when we’re stuck in the
cycle of sin. He’s there and He loves us. We can approach Him with confidence
knowing we’ll find mercy and grace.
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