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.

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.

Camp

So camp is over.  All I can say is wow.  I had an amazing time.  The kids were great and I was able to share God and fishing.  It was amazing to me how excited the kids were about God and fishing.  The plan was to take 6 kids out in the boat during the week.  We had a casting competition to see who would go.  Wednesday was the day, later that night Josh the one in charge came to me and said the kids enjoyed it so much we needed to take 6 more out the next day.  So we dew names and 6 more kids got a trip in the boat.

I was amazed at how excited the kids were about the boat.  I only had one kid who got a bass from the boat, but we had about 7 catch them from shore.  It was an amazing week.  I saw kids grow in Christ and I myself also was able to grow.

I just have to say thank you to all of those guys who helped me out by donating lures and rods, and even hats.  So thank you to Shaw Grigsby, Tony Posey, Sam Sagaser, Rodney Howard, Jeremy Burge and Edwin Evers.  I could not have done it without your help.

I am already looking forward to next year.  The coolest thing that happened was when I had a kid tell me he really didn’t like fishing, but after being at camp and me teaching him something he was more excited about fishing.  That one comment made the whole week and all the struggles I had putting the fishing section together worth it.  Man sometimes God blesses you in small ways and that sure was a blessing.

B Attitudes

My wife made a comment the other day well we were out fishing sinko’s that made me stop and think.  She said something to the effect of how she could not believe how patient I can be when fishing.  I was slowly fishing a weed line working every inch of it slowly letting my sinko float down and working it back to the boat.

It made me think of the B attitudes which are from Matthew 5:3-12:

“³Blessed are the poor in spirit,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
   for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
   for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
   for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
   for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
   for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
   for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

As I thought about Matthew I realized that all of these apply when fishing.  There are days I know anglers feel poor in spirit you can’t get on fish.  We mourn when we lose them.  Well maybe the meek part is pushing it.  But you get the point.  Anglers can take comfort from the B Attitudes and the next time things are hard or you are having a hard time being patient remember Matthew 5: 3-12.   

Just Fishin

I am not a country music fan by any means.  However I ran across a song by Trace Adkins because my wife told me about it and so I looked it up.  The song is about a father and daughter going fishing, and talking about what is going on.

It made me stop and think.  We only have a short time with our children and in that time we need to instill the values we believe in them.  Once they reach the age of adult hood we can only sit on the sidelines and watch and hope and pray they follow God.

There’s a line in the song “She thinks were just fishin”.  It really hit home with me, because I took the family out fishing on Saturday night and I started a conversation about wondering why God made fish.  Its moments like that that we can share small pieces of God with our Children.

That’s what I love about being in the outdoors and fishing.  We get a chance to be in God’s great gift to us and share important moments with our family.  I hope you spend time with your children and share the love of God with them.

Check out the music video below:

Side Imaging

I have been fascinated by the side imaging scince it came out a few years back.  I love the idea that you can see what is going on under the water and at such a long distance.  I have looked at the units many times and see the advantages of having one.  The problem is the dollar amount of side imaging units.  I saw an ad for a down imaging unit from Lowrance and It got me to think about them again.

As I looked over the ad I thought of Luke 12:7

^“But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.”

God knows all he knows even the hairs on our heads.  Just like with side imaging we can see what is happening under the water around us.  It amazes me that God does know very hair on my head.  The side imaging and down imaging allows anglers to know a place we are fishing like God knows each and every one of us.

So remember the next time you are using your side imaging that just like you knowing every rock, hump and tree in a given area God knows everything about you as well.  Just a thought.

Lurking Bass

I set out today to test some products and I only had a little bit of time and we had storms rolling in and out all day long, so I hit a small pond to do some work.  As I walk up I see 10 to 15 bass lurking around gills on the bed.

As I stood and watch I was reminded of 1 Peter 5:8 which says “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  I was reminded of this because of what the bass would do.

They would just sit there looking at the gills swimming around.  They would just sit there waiting for the perfect time to go in and get a meal.  The gills had to know they were there and what they wanted.  I know that the Devil is prowling around looking for the perfect opportunity to go in and make a mess of my life.

We as Christians need to be careful and not get separated from God.  When the small gill fry would venture just far enough from the safety of the large group of them the bass would gobble it up.  The same is true for us.  When we stray from God the devil gobbles us up.

Keep that in mind the next time you start to stray away from the Lord.  Just a thought.