Go fishing!!

In Mark chapter 1 Jesus makes a statement to Peter and Andrew that has always seemed interesting. He said “come and I will make you fishers of men”. That has always seemed like a weird thing to say. I’m sure they thought so too. I was thinking about an old friend this morning that I used to go fishing with and a thought came to me that kind of makes Jesus’ statement clearer to me. To catch a fish you use bait. Now there’s a couple different ways to catch them. With hooks or in a trap. Dad and I used to catch them in traps to take them out of an overpopulated pond and move them to a new pond where they could grow and thrive, but catching them on a hook we intended to eat them. Now the bait is put on the hook so that the fish sees the yummy attractive bait but they can’t see the dangerous hook that will snare them and drag them to their death. It’s like that for us. There’s bait that lures us into danger like money, power, sex, drugs and many other things. It all looks good on the surface but when we take the bait we are dragged into certain death. It’s our primal desires that draw us to the bait. Now Jesus offers another kind of bait. Forgiveness, peace, love, joy and if we take that bait we will find no hooks. We will one day be taken to a better place where we will thrive and live!! By telling others about Jesus and his good bait maybe we can help lure some people into the basket instead of a hook!! Fishers of men!! His words to the fishermen seem wise when I think about it like that. I just love a good fishing story especially with a happy ending!! Dearest Lord, thank you for saving us from the hook of our own evil desires and teaching us a better way!! Wishing you all have a great day!!