They not only allow us to remember things the way they were, but to also color those
magical moments with the palette of love.
The good old days might not have really
been that good, but when you look back on them from the present, they look better and
better with each memory review.
Yesterday was one of those days when I felt like Daddy Taxi.
My daughter had places to go and things to do, and at the core of her social schedule was
my transportation.
She now has turned seventeen, so giving her the driving chores could be an option, but
let's not go there for a while!
Instead, I just button my lip and bolster my resolve, that these small moments out of my
day are yet another chance to be close to my daughter. An opportunity, I hurtingly
realize, that will not be as plentiful, as she grows older and goes about establishing her
own life.
And that is when the memory flow began. It was a mental slide show that followed her
course (her name is Dorian by the way) from being a bald-headed little new born who we
thought would never grow hair. To the independent purposeful teenager, with hair
half-way down her back, whom I thank God daily for making her as good and thoughtful
(albeit not perfect) as she is.
One of those mental scenes caused me to pause for a long moment.
As a family, one of our favorite summer get-a-ways is to go camping. Real camping.
Tent, camp stove, pit toilets, catching your supper down at the old lake type of
camping.
My wife (just thought I never named her either, she is Jan) and I love this form of
relaxation. Dorian had no choice she was born into it but she thrived in that
environment also.
The one thing she loves most is fishing.
But for her first fishing excursions, I was hesitant to outfit her pole completely.
Instead of a barbed hook, which I was afraid would find itself lodged in
anything and everything but a fish, I put a bent paperclip on her line. It looked
the part, it just never was going to bring anything out of the water, except perhaps a
water Lilly or two.
It was a brilliant sun-shiny type of day. The sun skipped across the top of the
lake, gilding it with an orange glow. We rowed around the lake, fishing poles
extended, enjoying the warmth of the sun on our bodies.
And from the bow of the boat came a little voice yelling, "I got a nibble."
There was Dorian bringing in her line, her youthful enthusiasm bubbling up in the
eyes shaded by her genuine "I'm going fishing visor."
When the line emerged from the water, alas it was empty, but...she had felt a nibble.
The afternoon went on like that. Not a fish was pulled into the boat but what was caught
was much more precious. It was one of those family moments that will live within my
mind and heart forever.
The look of determination on that little face. The concentration as she waiting to
feel a pull on her line. And the constant optimism, each time the line dipped, that
this would be the time, the real time, that she would catch a fish.
There have been hundreds of fishing trips and camping outings since that time but this one
was special, it was the first and the one that has been filed away in the memory hall of
fame.
And Jesus said unto them, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."
Do you remember your first fishing trip with Jesus.
How you cast your lines out upon the water. Waited to get that first nibble. Anxious
to pull that first soul in need of saving from the churning sea of sin.
Even today, do you find yourself fishing but not catching anything?
Dorian, in her childish innocence, never checked to see that she did not have a hook that
would hold. Neither did the hook have bait.
When we go fishing for the Lord. Do we have a hook on our line? Can we catch
those in need of salvation without knowing the Word of the Lord? I don't think so.
Do we need a personal knowledge, and have a personal walk with Jesus, to convince
other to come to Him. Of course!
You can not catch a fish unless you lower something into the water that it wants and
needs.
You can not land a sinner unless you give them something they both want and need.
What they want and need is that peace that passeth all understanding. They need
forgiveness to lift the burden of their sins from their shoulders. They need love
and comforting. And they need the promise, that this world we currently live in is not as
good as it gets.
In short, they need Jesus.
If you cast Jesus out to this hungry world, you will reel in sinners.
On Dorian's first fishing trip, without hook or bait, there were a little of nibbles and
no catches.
When we go fishing for the Lord, let's go making sure our hooks are sound, or bait is
irresistible and our faith, unshakable.
Let us too be fishers of men. And as we cast out the name of Jesus, may we have the
strength and endurance to haul in a large catch of sinners for the Lord.
The good old days might not have really
been that good, but when you look back on them from the present, they look better and
better with each memory review.
