Fishing and Catching

Yesterday I was able to spend half a day ice-fishing on the Bay of Quinte.  It was tons of fun and a great opportunity to do something different.  I enjoy fishing (and always have), but since leaving Fort Babine in 2005, I haven’t done it nearly as much as I’d like to.

There’s a lot to time to think and reflect while you’re fishing.  At some point during the day, one of the fellows we were fishing with said something like, “And here you see the difference between fishing and catching.”  It wasn’t a great day for fishing, though I did manage to get a couple.  But those words got me thinking:  there is a difference between fishing and catching.

Because of my love for fishing, the words of the Lord Jesus in Mark 1:17 have always resonated with me:  “Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  I thought yesterday:  he said they would be fishers of men, he didn’t say anything about catching.

Luke 5:1-11 presents us with a similar situation to Mark 1:14-20, although the two passages are probably not parallels.  In Luke 5:10, the Lord Jesus says to Simon, “Don’t be afraid, from now on you will catch men.”  So, the Lord Jesus promised that this apostle would not only fish, but also catch.  The nets of the Lord Jesus are cast out by his fishermen and they will capture those who are his.  Incidentally, Luke 5:1-11 was the text that Dr. de Visser chose to preach on at my installation as the pastor of the Providence church.

Tags: fishing