dry dock

I spent last night with some dear friends. We ate, we laughed. We talked, we laughed. We prayed, we laughed. We so enjoyed our time spent together. Right in the middle of prayer we hit on something... a picture of sorts. A picture of us and of the church I think. Here's the picture...

On the shore of some vast body of water is a fishing wharf. A place frequented by those who brave the seas to bring in a catch of fresh fish. In the unfortunate event that some damage befalls their boat they take it to "dry dock". The boat is removed from the water to be able to repair it correctly. Time is of the essence because the longer the boat is out the water the longer the captain must wait to catch fish. The quicker the repair the faster one can return to the danger of the ocean to catch fish. As simple as this sounds let me say this... boats belong on the water and fish are not caught on land.

Jesus said follow me and I'll make you fishers of men. The question is when is the last time we've but out fishing? Are we even on the water? Or have we been spending our time in dry dock meticulously caring for out "boats" and believing that some day just maybe our boats will be seaworthy. Maybe someday we'll catch some fish we think... maybe they'll even come to us. Being an avid fisherman I know that fish don't come to fisherman, the fisherman must seek out the fish.

But maybe our boats are not seaworthy? What if we lauch out into the deep only to be swamped by the waves and driven ashore by the wind? Maybe we're not asking the right questions. Maybe the most important question is not "is it dangerous out there?" but "are we catching any fish here in dry dock?". Remember Jesus also said "go into all the earth and make disciples"? He never said you just sit right there and they'll come to you. He said in essence, get out there and find some fish. The key to fishing is not having the best boat or having your boat perfectly in order.... the key is being where the fish are.

I remember in high school I had a good friend who shared the same love of fishing and being on the water that I did. We fished one particular lake with great success almost everytime. We could fish from shore and keep our feet on solid ground and we'd even catch a couple fish. But if we really wanted to catch fish we would have to ge on the water and go to them. Our boat was nothing special. Just a 12 foot aluminum rowboat with a junky 2.2 horsepower "Kingfisher" outboard that leaked gas and sounded more like a weed wacker than an outboard motor. The best thing about our craft? It floated. Sounds simple doesn't it? Well it is. All we needed was something to get us to where the fish were. When we got there we caught fish one after another.

I don't know about you but I've spent too much time in dry dock wondered what to do with my boat and not doing any fishing. I think "we" have spent too much time worrying about whether our boats will float and whether they will be sufficient enough to actually help us catch fish. Lets make it simple... what did Jesus say to the disciples? "Follow me and I'll make you fishers of men" right? Are you following Jesus? If you are than you can catch fish. If we're not catching fish then why not? Let's get out of dry dock and start catching some fish. Otherwise we could spend a lifetime working on our boats without ever catching a single fish. Let's go fishing.