It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This!

For many years my score for catching a legal Halibut was nearly a big fat zero.  On one of our church fishing trips I managed one by stomping on its tail before measuring!  Over the years I have caught many shorts, but me and the flat ones were not well acquainted.  The picture above was one of those days when my fishing buddy Nicholas declared, " It doesn't get any better than this."
We had launched early from Dana Point Jet Ski, picked up some sardines from the bait barge and headed out to a secret spot.  Almost right away we were getting bit on almost every other cast.  Anyone who tells you that Halibut are not schooling fish really doesn't know that much.  They were all together and they were hungry.  That morning we caught some shorts and some legals, but we released many hoping for a shot at some of the bigger ones.  As one can see we did real well.  This picture is a combo of our best fish of the morning.  As we paddled in Nicholas said something like," I almost hate to quit as I know this might not ever happen again."  He was spot on as it hasn't!
As I think about that morning I can come up with several lessons that might be of help for all of us to remember.  First, if we had allowed the busyness of life, the time involved in getting our kayaks and gear together and in the water to stop us we would have missed that one special day.  None of us have any guarantee on the days before us.  Each day presents opportunities that might only be there that morning.  In the  parable of the soils in the New Testament some of the seed sown by the farmer fell among the weeds and it says, "the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke out the word, and it becomes unfruitful." There is, of course, a spiritual application, but there is also a very down-to-earth one.  We all can be caught up in worries, seeking riches and desire for things that we miss the gift of life that the Lord has for us each day.  Before we know it that special event, that friend who could have made a difference in our life, that outing that can never come again will have quietly slipped away while we are all caught up in the weeds.  All of us are guilty at times of living among the weeds of life. The Lord, however, gently reminds us in this parable that He has something so much better for us. 

The second lesson is found in a passage in the Book of Hebrews in the New Testament.  It says, "and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near."  My fishing buddy Nicholas, attends church with me.  Some believers, because of experiences they have had in the Believing Community, have pulled away from attending church.  They still pray, read the Bible and would testify that they are followers of Jesus; they just don't assemble with other believers.  Are these folks going to miss Heaven?  Only the Lord knows their hearts, but I can tell you one thing they are missing. There are those in church who can greatly enrich their lives spiritually and in many practical ways like knowing the secret spot where the Halibut bite!  He who has a ear to hear let him hear.