Learning the Fundamentals

Over Memorial Day, my wife, kids and I had the opportunity to spend a few days with my wife's sister and her family near Lynchburg. Among the many fun things that we did together over those few days was go fishing in a farm pond across the road from their home. It served as a chance to get back to basics, simply fishing with a night crawler and a bobber, and reaping the rewards of an unspoiled population of panfish. What was most rewarding was the opportunity to begin teaching and instructing our kids the fundamentals of fishing - how to bait their hooks, cast their lines, be patient in waiting for the fish to take the bait, and keep their rods positioned in retrieving the fish while keeping slack out of the line and avoiding snags in the process.

Luke 5:3-11 (NASB)
And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.


Oh, the number of times just during this particular fishing outing that I heard "I can't" or "I quit" from my children over not being able to do one of the many steps of baiting, casting, hooking or retrieving. They seem to think they should know how to do it perfectly after their first attempt, and after thinking about it, maybe they got that from me, because I have been known to respond that same way when trying to learn something new. I am slow to remember that whatever it is that I am learning, it takes practice, continued instruction, positive criticism and critique in order to truly excel over time.

People matter to Jesus, and one of the most important things that Jesus taught his disciples was how to 'fish' for people. Jesus spent a tremendous amount of time instructing and demonstrating for His disciples how to do this effectively, probably because He knew His students were going to mess it up the first, fifteenth, fiftieth, maybe even the five-hundredth time they tried it. And when we attempt to 'fish' and fail, how often is our reaction the same as our children's and even the first disciples' - annoyed and sarcastically informing the teacher how his/her instruction doesn't work, and that he/she doesn't know what they are talking about, only to discover over time that in fact it's quite the opposite.

Jesus spent a significant amount of time teaching and training us to connect with and invest in the lives of people. So, who are you fishing for right now? Are you continuing to lean on the 'source' for instruction, guidance, correction and encouragement? He doesn't intend on us figuring out how to 'fish' on our own, but He does intend for us to fish. - GE