Matthew 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

My dad taught me how to fish. He was an avid trout fisherman who loved fly fishing. The basics of casting and retrieving are pretty much standard without too much regard for the type of water you fish. The fly on the other hand is a totally different matter. If you are on a pond and it is spring, insects are falling out of the trees as they change from their pupas stage to become a winged insect and fall upon the water. You will see the trout rise and take them before they can strengthen and fly off. We would collect a sample of those insects and match them from our collection of dry flies. Then it was only a matter of presentation.

Now fast water fishing is a whole different matter. The trout likes to lay in wait and feeds by ambush. So you have to go to likely ambush spots and use a wet fly which will sink below the surface and be carried by the current. There is no indicators of where the fish are, you have to look for places in the stream which pose as a likely area for feeding. Neither do you know what they are biting on or if they are feeding at all. This kind of fishing takes an enormous amount of patience. If you do not get a bite, you do not move on, you change flies. You change flies until you are somewhat sure that you need to change spots. Then you move on and repeat the pattern.

So how does this relate to winning souls to Christ? Think of the pond as being a closed in area where behavior can be observed. Lost souls wander into church from time to time for various reasons. If we pay attention to them, we will see what they are biting on and will know where to cast the dry fly. If lost souls keep coming to church, they are looking for something and they probably keep coming back because they found something to feed on. Eventually they will get hooked. All you have to do is keep feeding them and don’t scare them away.

Now the fast stream is another matter. It could be looked at as street evangelism or just those chance encounters. You have to be prepared to test the waters and not give up just because you do not see anyone biting. If you are a street evangelist, don’t keep putting out the same old tired tracts that haven’t been working. Switch bait. If you have to move to a new spot do not be discouraged, the nature of this kind of fishing is like making a thousand casts before you get a bite.

The last piece of fishing advice goes back to the trout. They have a tender mouth and if you jerk on the line as if they were a large mouth bass, you will lose them. Once you set the hook, you have to be gentle and patient still so as to not lose them.

Bye, gone fishing.

Deuteronomy 6:5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

I ran cross country in high school. I wasn’t in the top five so I didn’t letter, but I ran. A friend who had been on our team the year before moved and that year competed. He was there rabbit. The guy who sprinted as hard as he could at the first of the race to draw out our runners to keep up and sap their energy. It didn’t work.

At the end of the race I came to the field where we finished the race and I could see him fifty yards in front of me with a hundred yards to go. All I could think of was beating him, so I sprinted that last hundred yards and beat him. My coach came up to me and said, “If you had given your all in the race, you wouldn’t have had that sprint in you.”

Now at this time in my life I feel that way in service to my Lord. I came late to the table, as they say. I can see the finish line and I have plenty of sprint left in me. But it occurs to me also that my witness to sinners is more true than those who have served since an early age. I have more sin experience, I know whereof they speak, I can relate.

Luke 7:47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

I can relate.