Fishing

I’m Rita! Get off My Land!

/ pastorpete51 / 13 Comments 
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Ephesians 3:19 KJV

“Private property”, read the sign by the edge of the pond. “No hunting fishing or trespassing. Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law!” But just feet away from that sign, a stranger sat, fishing pole in hand on the little dock. As the farmer’s wife approached, she smiled and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I always fish here.” The man responded with a shrug. “I have permission from, Rita”

“Really?” she responded with a quiet chuckle. “Well, I’m Rita. I don’t know you – so get off my land!” This true story which happened just up the road from us, reminded me of today’s verse. Just like that guy, most of us often explain our faith by saying something about God’s love. “Jesus loves you.” Or “God is love.” These phrases roll easily off our lips, but in our daily lives sometimes we are a lot like that guy fishing in someone else’s pond. We know about God’s love, have heard there are some amazing benefits in it, but we have never actually met the owner! Paul tells us that the love of Christ is something that is far beyond our understanding, but the good news is that God wants us to experience it. He has seen us fishing in His pond, has come down to talk with us, but unlike our neighbor, He didn’t come to throw us off His land. God came to earth as a man, so that we could meet Him, and so that His love could be lived out in ordinary circumstances of our lives. He is not only here to throw us off the property, but rather to give us a fishing license if we will put our faith in Him. We might be trespassing on His property, but He isn’t looking to prosecute us to the fullest extent of the law. Instead, God is fishing for our hearts, and He invites us to come to know Him today!

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When God Interrupts

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments 
While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:18-19 ESV

Over the last five days, because of sickness our agenda has been unceremoniously trashed, and we had to cancel most of our plans. Finally on Sunday afternoon, my wife and I went to a walk-in clinic, hoping to find some help. Though we came away with a diagnosis of nothing more serious than Bronchitis, it was frustrating to realize just how little control we had over our plans. Of course, not all agenda changing in our lives occurs due to negative circumstances. In today’s verse, we find Peter and Andrew finishing up their shift at work, after a long night of fishing. Then, while they were washing their nets before heading home for breakfast Jesus interrupted their plans, with a plan of His own. Though we have the advantage of knowing that Peter and Andrew went on to become Apostles, they were probably thinking about what their wives were cooking for breakfast! Imagine how the pages of the Bible would be different if they just told Jesus that they would go home and pray about it (after a nap!) There would have been, no story of Andrew, bringing a boy with five loaves of bread for Jesus to multiply and no Peter, walking on water to go to Jesus. Though they didn’t know it at the time, the history of nations lay in the balance that day, because God has chosen them to do something different than they had planned.

Has God has disrupted your schedule recently? If you are like me, you may have been irritated, frustrated or even just plain mad about having to cancel your carefully crafted plans. But as Christians, we need to remind ourselves, that God knows what is best, and He wants us to trust our schedule into His hands. We never know if instead of fishing at the lake, Jesus just might want us to go with Him and start fishing for men!

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No Fishing!

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Ephesians 3:19 KJV

“Private property”, read the sign by the edge of the pond. “No hunting fishing or trespassing. Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.” But just feet away a stranger sat, fishing pole in hand on the little dock. As the farmer’s wife approached, she smiled and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Oh I always fish here.” The man responded with a shrug. “I have permission from, Rita Modei.”

“Really?” she responded with a quiet chuckle. “Well I’m Rita. I don’t know you – so get off my land!”

That true story happened just up the road from us, and it reminded me of today’s verse. Just like that guy, most of us start off explaining our faith by saying something about God’s love. “Jesus loves you.” Or “God is love.” These phrases roll easily off our lips, but in our daily lives sometimes we are a lot like the guy fishing in someone else’s pond. We know about it. We have heard there are some big fish in there, but we have never actually met the owner! Paul tells us that this love of Christ is something that is beyond our understanding. But the good news is that God wants us to know it. He has seen us fishing in His pond and has come to talk with us – but unlike our neighbor, He didn’t come to throw us off His land. He came to meet us. He came so that His love could be lived out in the ordinary circumstances of our lives. He is ready to give a fishing license to everyone who puts their faith in Him. We might be trespassing on His property, but He isn’t looking to prosecute us to the fullest extent of the law. His is a love that is fishing for our hearts, and He invites you to come fishing today!