July is here and we still don’t have baseball, but we still have the virus. Wearing masks and washing hands like a well-trained surgeon has become a new norm. My hands have never been cleaner in my life. I confess that when I was a child and was told by my mother to wash my hands before I ate my meal, I often would just run the water over them from the bathroom sink. Then I would let them air dry as I proceeded to eat my meal. Now my hands are always in a state of looking and feeling like a prune from so much cleaning. I will be glad when baseball returns and I can give my hands a rest from the constant washing.
Maria and I have returned from spending some time with my daughter and her family in the mountains of North Carolina. One of the adventures of this vacation was to “bobber” fish as my son in law Chad would say. The only takers he could get to follow him to the pond were Gabster and myself. I hadn’t fished since I was a young boy, but hey if it meant I could spend time with those two I would gladly face the dangerous bugs I knew waited for us around the pond. The time was sunset when the bugs would be out looking for their next meal. I was afraid the one who would be getting bites was me and not my fishing line. It was now time to bait the hooks. Chad proceeded to cut a worm and with a horrifying shout Gabster said “Daddy you are killing it.” To which he replied “No it’s OK it can’t feel a thing”. Then I said without thinking “Daddy is helping the worm to fulfill its purpose”. Neither response was satisfying to her, but after the worm’s sacrifice she was fine casting her baited fish hook into the pond. As the next worm was put on my line, before I cast it into the water, I couldn’t help but wonder how much that worm and I had in common. If, like the worm, I was going to be used by God to catch men instead of fish, I too must die. I must, like Paul, identify with Christ and His sufferings as well as His resurrection. Most of us want to have resurrection power in our life and ministries. But we don’t want to do what is necessary to have such power in our lives. This kind of power only comes through death. We must embrace what Paul says in Galatians 2:20. “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me”. So to fulfill my purpose I too must die to myself. My old nature must die to my old ways and embrace a new way. The old man is dead long live the new man! That night fishing in North Carolina I caught nothing, but I did provide a delightful meal for the bugs that were using my body for their main course. Gabster was ready to go back to the cabin but her dad was not ready to quit. So Gabster and I headed back to the cabin having caught nothing, but I knew that our fishing was only beginning! I prayed that both myself and the little girl whose hand I now held would be used to catch many men for our Heavenly Father and for His kingdom.
Still fishing for men,
Good story. Thanks for sharing. You are a gifted writer.