Wednesday, September 21, 2011

More thoughts on Crankbaits

I have been hanging problems writing blogs lately.  Maybe it’s the fact that I have not been on the water lately.  I have not had that time alone with God in his creation.  I have to say I am feeling it.  I miss my time with God being on the water.
I was reading 2 Corinthians 5 the other day.  It is a great chapter of scripture.  It is in my opinion one of Paul’s greatest writings.  To be honest I have read it over and over trying to understand what Paul is really trying to say.  I would love to read it in Greek so I can see all of the things that don’t translate into English that we miss, but I am not there yet in my Greek understanding. 
What really stuck out to me was 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”  When I read this I immediately thought of a blog I wrote months ago about custom painted crankbaits. 
The point of the blog was that when we become a Christian we are like a crankbait that is custom painted after you buy it.  The paint is stripped and made into a new creation.  We are the same; we are stripped of your old ways and made new when we allow Christ into our lives.
2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us just that, the old is gone!  Just like the old paint on the crankbait is gone our old self is gone.  The “New” is here in the case of a crankbait it’s that new paint job put on by the artist creating it.  In the case of a Christian it’s the new life we gain in the artist of Christ.
I love the analogy of the crankbait receiving a custom paint job and how we as Christians get one as well.  I hope that you have received a custom paint job in your life.  I hope that God has brought the “New” into your life and the old is gone.  If not maybe it’s time that you stop and listen to the words of God and allow the transformation.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

What Am ITo Learn From All of This?

Well once again I am dealing with motor troubles.  This time though things look bad.  The trim unit I have is fried and the motor won’t go in reverse and on top of it, when you put the warm lever up it make the boat go in forward gear.
I am really upset.  Fishing around here is about to pick up.  Last fall I racked up the bass and found some great spots for fall and even early winter.  I was able to fish until December.  Now I am looking at no boat until next spring.  I have to say this upsets me.
I have been sitting here trying to figure out what I am supposed to learn from all of this and I have nothing.  The only bright spot is that a month ago I was able to take kids fishing at camp in my boat.  There was one minor problem that week but nothing a quick trip to the local Auto Zone could not fix.
I was able to see some kids catch their first bass; I was even able to see one of the consolers catch his first pike.  I am blessed that I had a boat and was able to do that with the kids I was able to take on the boat.
So as I write this I realize it could be worse, I could have had these issues a month ago and not had the boat working.  With that said it still stinks that now I am without a working motor.  It’s funny I got on craigslist to day and there are a lot of bass boats for sale cheap.  If I only had the money to get a newer bass boat, but that's not God's plan for me right now.
I am said before I always look for what God is trying to teach me in these situations because I have had a lot of boat issues this year.  I guess I am making up for the problem free year I had last year.  I still have not been able to see what God has planned for me or what I am supposed to learn.
I have spent some time looking over the Bible looking for some verse that would give me some sort of hope.  To be honest I don’t have a verse that did.  I have often wondered if I put fishing before God.  Maybe this is his answer to me that I do.  Maybe I am supposed to realize I have put fishing first I don’t really know.