How Are Your Fishing Skills?

This past weekend I went to Arkansas to watch my nephew, Justin, compete in a bass fishing tournament. What a great weekend. My cousin and her husband live on the lake where the tournament was, so I got to spend the weekend with them. The picture of the water is from their house, so after I got over coveting their home and gorgeous view I had a great time (lol). They were wonderful host and it was like a mini vacation for me.

The fishing tournament weigh in was pretty neat to watch. All these boats come in and their fish are in a bag. They were allowed to keep 5, but they had to be a certain length to be keepers. So as they weigh, teams are knocked out of spots when other teams have a higher weight.

As they were weighing the fish, the MC would ask the guys, what they used, what was their stratagey, where did they fish, did they fish deep or shallow. Who knew there was so much to fishing poppers, and jigs, and skimmers.

I thought about that and how fishermen learn. They listen to what others use for bait, they listen to where others fish. They listen to what kind of poles and line people use. They listen and they learn from others, especially those catching fish. They also practice, they prefish a lake before each tournament.

As I thought about this I was reminded of the verse in Matthew 4, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people.” Jesus calls us all to be fishermen and fisherwomen.

How do we learn to be good fishermen?

Just like the people fishing for fish. We listen, we study what they do, where they go, how they do it, and we study from the master, Jesus. How did he do it? He went to where the people who needed him hung out. He met their needs, he took time to listen to people, he spoke truth, and he loved them.

How are your fishing skills? Are you studying? Are you practicing?