Daily Devotional

My friend called to announce he was going to take me fishing. I reminded him that I am, in my opinion, the worst fisherman I know. He responded, “I know that, too but I’ve got you covered.” We drove to a nearby lake and I helped him launch his boat. He handed me his fishing pole, already fully baited, and instructed me to let down the multi-colored line to a certain color. Within a few minutes, I was reeling in my first Kokanee salmon. I was ecstatic. “Hurry, drop the line again” he shouted from the back of the boat. I felt the tug and pulled into another salmon, even bigger than the first. I caught six fish within thirty minutes.

He took pictures of me with my first-ever string of salmon. I felt like I had died and gone to fisherman heaven. I also thought I had finally made it as a real fisherman. After all, I had the pictures to prove it. Little did I know that Jack had two sonar fish-finders and extremely well-tested bait. As an expert fisherman, he knew that lake well. In fact, I was his test-subject. A few months later, I received an unsolicited fishing magazine in the mail. Inside was a picture of me with my string of fish and an article my friend had written about the lake where we had fished. The caption under the picture: “This is my pastor. If he can catch fish here; anybody can.”

The lesson is simple: If you want to be successful, hang around people who have the skills and the necessary tools. Hopefully, they will insist to take you on your own adventure.  After all, if they can do it; so can you. Maybe!

New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation