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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Gone Fishing (02/01/07)
Click, click, click,…..click, click, click,…..click, click, click. Pull the pole up, flick the wrist, press the release button, then whizzzzzzzzzzz, plop! Start all over again. Click, click, click,…..click, click, click,…..click, click, click. Yeah, you guessed it. I’ve gone fishing. Sitting here on this old dock, on a lazy summer day. Got my glass of cold iced tea and listening to the waves gently lapping on the shore behind me. Peacefulness surrounds me like the warm sunshine and gentle breezes. I just can’t think of a thing that relaxes me more than fishing from this old dock. None of the hustle and bustle of everyday life. No phones, no interruptions, just peace and quiet. My aim isn’t to catch any fish, it’s to sit there throwing out my line to reeling it back in. Repeating the process endlessly. Actually, catching fish would only complicate my peaceful routine. Causing me to dirty my hands!
Time passes without notice as I sit there in my little corner of paradise. When deep down in my spirit I feel the Lord tugging at my heart. I begin to look at things in a different perspective. No longer is my fishing pole a tool for fishing. No longer is the lure for attracting fish. The lake is no longer just a body of water holding those fish. Lord, why are you disturbing my peaceful routine? I find I’m getting a little aggravated at this point. I’m comfortable with my ineffective method of fishing.
Then the spirit of the Lord opens my understanding. The pole is me, a Christian. The lure is the Spirit of the Lord working through me to attract the lost. The lake is the world that is full of the those who are lost.
Through His chastening I can see the Lord’s point. I have become comfortable in my routine Christian life. Attending church, tithing, going through all the motions of being a Christian. Or, so it would appear to those looking at me. What of my real motive though? Do I cast my line in hopes of not catching anything? Do I see winning the lost as a disruption to my comfortable routine? Do I see reaching out to the lost as dirtying my hands?
With shame reddening my face I cry out to the Lord. There on my dock, I repent of my wrong attitudes. Telling the Lord I understand what He’s shown me. Knowing that from this day on. I will have a whole new attitude when I have gone fishing.

2-5-07
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Jan Ackerson
02/08/07
Actually, catching fish would only complicate my peaceful routine. Causing me to dirty my hands!

There's a lot of depth to these statements...this is a very good lesson.
Marilyn Klunder
02/08/07
Very well written! And I agree, we as Christians have become to comfortable in our routines. Thank you for the great reminder!
Jacquelyn Horne
02/09/07
Liked the comparison here. well done.
Patty Wysong
02/11/07
I like the lesson here. Too often we ARE comfortable in our rut and don't want to dirty our hands. Very good analogy and lesson!
Karen Petty
02/14/07
Ouch. This is an effective & challenging piece! The only minor discrepancies may be the last few sentences. They appear to break at odd times. Also, the latter portion of the last sentence seems to be written in the past tense, rather than present tense, breaking continuity. I very much enjoyed this piece. Great job!