Just One...

‎Tuesday, ‎July ‎26, ‎2022

Good morning, Lord

Verse of the Day: Psalm 119:60

I made haste, and did not delay To keep Your commandments.

Memory verse: Romans 12:1: Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

Today's reading: PSALM 40-42 ACTS 27:1-26

Just One Fish

I played hooky my junior year. The spring rains in 1970 were huge and Lake lavon was full and the flood gates were opened and the water filled the basin below the dam. This coincided conveniently with the spawning run of the crappy.( It's in the perch family, all white meat and really good). There were perpendicular walls off the back of the dam and the waters got high enough to get behind the walls. We would buy all the minnows we could afford and sit on the banks behind those walls and fish until the minnows were gone.

So it was school till lunch then off to the lake to fish-for three days in a row. We caught 140. We used 2 hook set-ups and caught 2 at a time. It was the best fishing of my life and it was not just fun. It was addicting. We just did not want to stop. I was not a fisherman. My dad took me fishing once when I was little. So, when I started pulling in 2 at a time behind those walls, I thought I was a fisherman. I have been a few times over the years but am still not a fisherman.

Peter was a fisherman. He was on a boat, fishing, when Jesus called him. Matthew 17 tells the story of Jesus paying the Temple tax. Jesus said to Peter; 27 “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

Jesus had just told the best fisherman of the bunch to dig bait, get out the tackle, go to the lake and stop after you catch the first fish. He told him to do all this and stop with the first fish- the fish with the money in its mouth...

They say people do not change. Peter had. We know that the disciples took the opportunity to fish, now and then, because we are told the story in John 21 of Jesus telling them to throw their nets on the other side of the boat and they caught many. They did it for food and pleasure-not just for their living. But for Peter to go fishing and catch one and stop must have been monumental. And to stop with the fish with money in it's mouth-if there is one, there's bound to be more-right?

A big-mouthed fisherman, like Peter had shown himself to be, would have been meticulous about his fishing gear and about where he chose to fish. Was it the right time of day; was it too hot; do the locals say the fish are biting? Normally, before Jesus, all these thoughts and conditions and more would have governed whether Peter would have taken all the trouble to fish at that moment.

We aren't even told if Peter did it or not. The story ends there and so we just know that it was done as Jesus had instructed. That's because the point was this: Jesus said to do it to keep from offending anyone. Think about that. Before Jesus, Peter would not have cared about offending anyone. He was the biggest, baddest fisherman to ever gut a catch.

But now Peter traveled with the Lord of Lords. He had answered the call of Christ and was living a new life. He was a changed man.

Now, we must daily die to that old self of wanting to catch one more-to be the meticulous-to be the best for the cause of acclaim.

In Christ, we do change and are still changing-being conformed into Christ's image-if we consistently yield our lives to Him and take up our cross and follow Him.

It is your choice right now. What will you do? Will you keep fishing to see how many more coins you can find so you might brag about it-even to the point of offending someone, or will you stop at one because Jesus says so?

...because He loves us...

Father in Heaven,

You are Lord. I am so hard-headed. Forgive me for trying to do things on my own when You say enough is enough. Teach me humility, obedience, and patience.

My God of peace and patience,

In the name of Christ Jesus,

Amen