By Todd Hamilton, Lead Pastor, Elevation Church, Highland Village
My oldest daughter, a freshman at Lakeland Christian Academy, started a bass fishing team this year, and I am the boat captain. We had our first tournament on Lake Lewisville September 24th.
We did very well, placing 44th out of 264 teams! It was a trying day on the water, though, as I tried to coach two rookie anglers on the finer points of presenting their lures to the wary bass. As I reflected on their performance (and my own) I realized how similar tournament bass fishing and sharing the Gospel of Jesus are.
Jesus says: “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19, ESV). The people for whom we fish today seem more wary than those Jesus and his disciples encountered. Perhaps it is because people no longer need Jesus or his Good News. Perhaps it is because everyone has heard his story. Or, perhaps we fishers are just as raw and unskilled (or out of practice) as the two freshman anglers I had in the boat with me that day.
When was the last time you wrote down your own story of how you came to know and trust Jesus? When did you last share your faith with someone who didn’t know Jesus? For too many, it has been too long.
It is time we, the Church, got out and did some fishing! There are people all around us who need the Good News of Jesus. Even if you fish poorly at first, God can do great things. Want proof? Look at what he did with two rookie anglers and their first-time boat captain. We didn’t win it all, but we did more than if we had stayed home. I wonder what God can do through you when you take a little risk and go fish for people?
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