Will you see it through God’s eyes?
We’re back from vacation – thanks for the break – and I was dismayed to see that my blog entries had not automatically appeared like I planned. I entered them before leaving, and placed a “scheduled” publishing date so they would automatically be placed on the blog. Apparently, my screensaver contains a password that would not allow my blog to be updated while I was away. (Nor was my Norton Anti-Virus updated or my Microsoft Updates processed – but that’s nothing compared to three blogs going unpublished and therefore unread.) If you’d like to read them, check out “You have to open your mouth”, “Garbage in. . .”, and “The Love of God.” They’re there now – but no one read them! sigh!
This week’s web log is about celebrations, fishing being the true meaning of life, and seeing things the way God sees them.
Our family spent a week in a small fishing cabin on Lake Manistique in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We fished nearly every day. We brought our fishing gear with us and then purchased new lures and worms and leeches when we got there at the suggestion of helpful, experienced UP fishermen.
Our fishing brought us great joy. Out we would go on our rented pontoon boat, onto the sometimes choppy and sometimes placid waters of Lake Manistique. Our noses, forearms and knees got tanned, our faces got wind-burned, our hands got smelly – but we had a blast. Each excursion to a new part of the lake was a celebration. We laughed, complained, “coached” each other, and generally had some of the best times we’d had in a long while.
Each day coming back in was filled with talk of our exploits and heroics. We patted each other on the back – figuratively and literally – and extolled the virtues of the “fishing Johnsons.” We made some pretty wonderful memories.
Oh – did I tell you? I caught zip; Gail caught a 6-inch baby Walleye; Zach caught a 6-inch baby Small-Mouth Bass and a 3-inch Yellow Perch minnow. But we took our trophy pictures and laughed and hooted like we were Bass Masters winning a tournament!
You see – we were celebrating the small successes because they were just that – successes. We didn’t go up there to win a trophy – we went up there to spend time as a family. We had as much fun winning and losing at cards. We celebrated the hard beds and the hard water. Our vacation was a huge success because mom and dad and Zach just showed up.
God throws a heaven-wide party – He pulls out all the stops and invests huge time and energy in celebrating – every time a non-believer crosses the line of faith and decides to give his or her life to Christ. It’s not who or how big or how terrific the “catch” is – when one lost soul surrenders to Jesus, every other activity in Heaven stops and every resident celebrates!
Think of a close friend who is far away from God. Think about a family member who refuses to bend his or her knee to Christ. Think about the neighbor or the co-worker who is searching for answers to life’s problems. Those people matter to God. . . they should matter to you. No, those words are not powerful enough. Any ONE of those people are worth Heaven coming to a dead halt, and the biggest party in the universe being thrown – no expense spared – all to celebrate that person surrendering to Christ. IF – they would surrender. . .
It’s that “IF” that you and I need to be concerned about.
Your friend, your family member, your neighbor, your co-worker could. . . might. . . will bend their knee and cross that line of faith IF you will talk to them and lead them there.
There are no “fish” too small – no one gets thrown back – every one gets their picture taken with the Great Fisherman and His assistant fishers-of-men! But the season will come to an end. The time of fishing for lost and wandering souls is now. You are the fisher-of-men that Jesus has put in place for some very specific people He wants to “catch.”
You’ve got to get your hooks in the water. You’ve got to use the right bait, you’ve got to be in the right place at the right time, you’ve got to be patient, you’ve got to be intentional, sometimes trolling, sometimes drifting, always aware, and always consistent with your eagerness.
God is primed and ready to throw the party - you and Jesus have to go out and bring in the guest of honor. Happy fishing!
